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Major Pesticides Are More Toxic to Human Cells Than Their Declared Active Principles
Open accessAbstract
Pesticides are used throughout the world as mixtures called formulations. They contain adjuvants, which are often kept confidential and are called inerts by the manufacturing companies, plus a declared active principle, which is usually tested alone. We tested the toxicity of 9 pesticides, comparing active principles and their formulations, on three human cell lines (HepG2, HEK293, and JEG3). Glyphosate, isoproturon, fluroxypyr, pirimicarb, imidacloprid, acetamiprid, tebuconazole, epoxiconazole, and prochloraz constitute, respectively, the active principles of 3 major herbicides, 3 insecticides, and 3 fungicides. We measured mitochondrial activities, membrane degradations, and caspases 3/7 activities. Fungicides were the most toxic from concentrations 300–600 times lower than agricultural dilutions, followed by herbicides and then insecticides, with very similar profiles in all cell types. Despite its relatively benign reputation, Roundup was among the most toxic herbicides and insecticides tested. Most importantly, 8 formulations out of 9 were up to one thousand times more toxic than their active principles. Our results challenge the relevance of the acceptable daily intake for pesticides because this norm is calculated from the toxicity of the active principle alone. Chronic tests on pesticides may not reflect relevant environmental exposures if only one ingredient of these mixtures is tested alone.
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“In this regard, it is noteworthy that the far greater toxicity of full agricultural formulations compared to declared supposed active principles alone has recently been demonstrated also for six other major pesticides tested in vitro [22].”
From Republished study: long-term toxicity of a Roundup herbicide and a Roundup-tolerantgenetically modified maize (2014) · cites this paper as [22]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Mesnage, R., Defarge, N., Spiroux de Vendômois, J., & Séralini, G.-E.
- Affiliations
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- CRIIGEN, 40 rue Monceau, 75008 Paris, France
- University of Caen, Institute of Biology, CRIIGEN and Network on Risks, Quality and Sustainable Environment MRSH-CNRS, Esplanade de la Paix, 14032 Caen Cedex, France
- Venue
- BioMed Research International
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2014
- Volume
- 2014
- Pages
- 1-8
- ISSN
- 1110-7243 (ISSN-L)
- 2314-6133
- 2314-6141
- PMC
- PMC3955666
- OpenAlex
- W2022206707
- Cited by
- 342
- References
- 36
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 27 · 2022: 35 · 2021: 39 · 2020: 41 · 2019: 45 · 2018: 33 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 22 · 2014: 9
- FWCI
- 27.87
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- BioMed Research International (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Toxicology › Pesticide Exposure and Toxicity
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Agricultural safety and regulations
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pesticide and Herbicide Environmental Studies
- Keywords
- pesticide formulations, pesticide mixtures, active ingredients, adjuvants, herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, glyphosate, Roundup, isoproturon, fluroxypyr, pirimicarb, imidacloprid, acetamiprid, tebuconazole, epoxiconazole, prochloraz, cytotoxicity, mitochondrial activity, membrane degradation, caspase 3/7, acceptable daily intake, human cell lines, environmental exposure
- MeSH terms
- Cell Membrane, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Environmental Exposure, Humans, Mitochondria, Pesticides, Caspases, Hep G2 Cells, HEK293 Cells
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