A comparison between mouse and fish micronucleus test using cyclophosphamide, mitomycin C and various pesticides

A comparative analysis between mouse and fish erythrocyte micronuclei (MN) assays was carried out using cyclophosphamide, mitomycin C and various pesticides such as alliete, brestanid, decis 25 CE (deltamethrin), kelthane 480 CE (dicofol), roundup (glyphosate), imazapyr and thiram. The aim of this study was to evaluate the fish species Tilapia rendalli as a suitable organism for the detection of genotoxicants in water. The clastogens cyclophosphamide and mitomycin C induced MN in both test-systems. Insecticides: decis 25 CE increased T rendalli MN frequencies at doses of 1.0 and 5.0 mg/kg, but not at the highest dose, and in mice there was no MN induction. Kelthane 480 CE also induced a significant MN frequency in T rendalli, but not in mice. Fungicides: alliete and brestanid induced MN only in T rendalli, while thiram was negative in both assays. Herbicides: imazapyr induced MN in T rendalli at the maximum tolerated dose only, while roundup induced MN at three dosed levels. In mice both herbicides presented negative results. This study revealed that fish MN assay can be used as a genotoxicological test-system since some methodological particularities were observed. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.