The effect of insecticides chlorpyrifos, α-cypermethrin and imidacloprid on primary DNA damage, TP 53 and c-Myc structural integrity by comet-FISH assay.

In parallel with the continuous use of conventional insecticides, introduction of more environmentally friendly substances continues to grow in modern agriculture. In the present study, we evaluated chlorpyrifos, and imidacloprid and α-cypermethrin as two representatives of green insecticides for their genotoxic activity. We conducted a 14-day treatment in extended human lymphocytes cultures using real life exposure relevant concentrations. An alkaline comet assay was used to detect primary DNA damage. Simultaneously, the effect on the specific action towards the TP 53 and c-Myc genes in terms of fragmentation and copy number were determined. Both genes are responsible for cell cycle regulation; thus playing an active role in carcinogenesis. Contrary to what was expected, imidacloprid showed the highest genotoxicity potential, irrespective of the fact that none of the insecticides induced a significant level of primary DNA damage at all tested concentrations. Similar, no significant effect towards the TP 53 and c-Myc gene was recorded. The present study indicates that low level use of chlorpyrifos as a conventional insecticide and imidacloprid and α-cypermethrin as green insecticides does not pose a risk to DNA in general, nor to the TP 53 and c-Myc gene structural integrity.