Uptake and persistence of pesticides in cultured human cells.

The uptake and persistence of 14C-labeled pesticides in cultur-s of human embryonic lung diploid cells were studied. Chlordimeform, DDT, parathion, aldrin and dieldrin were selected as test compounds. Results obtained from these experiments divided the chemical into two groups. The first group consisted of three chemical DDT, aldrin and dieldrin which are generally classified as persistent insecticides while the second group was composed of chlordimeform and parathion, generally considered to be non-persistent insecticides. The rate of initial cellular incorporation of first group was approximately 20 to 70 times greater than the non-persistent insecticides. During the course of an incubation, the amounts of pesticide taken up by the cells decreased gradually.