Current techniques for assessing developmental neurotoxicity of pesticides

Organophosphates (OPs) and Pyrethroids (PRY) have been widely used in agriculture and in the home as broad spectrum insecticides, but may produce considerable risk to human health, especially to children. Children are more susceptible to environmental exposure, and concern about the neurotoxic effects of pesticide exposure on children is increasing. There is a need for better understanding of the potential developmental neurotoxicity of pesticides. Techniques for assessing developmental neurotoxicity of pesticides will continue to be developed, rendering a need for flexibility of testing paradigms. Current techniques used in evaluating the developmental neurotoxicity of OPs and PRY are presented in this review. These include: (1) In vitro techniques (PC12 cells, C6 cells and other cell models); (2) Non-mammalian models (sea urchins, zebrafish and other non-mammalian models); and (3) In vivo mammalian models (morphological techniques, neurobehavioral assessments and biomarkers). © Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH 2008.