Abstract
Chlorothalonil is a fungicide widely used in agriculture as well as an active ingredient in antifouling paints. Although it causes toxic effects on non-target organisms and can accumulate in fish tissues, little is known about its sublethal effects. Thus, genotoxic and mutagenic effects of intraperitoneal injected chlorothalonil in Micropogonias furnieri, an estuarine fish of frequent human consumption and a promising test-organism for ecotoxicological assays, were assessed. Chlorothalonil showed to be genotoxic (DNA damage by comet assay) and mutagenic (micronuclei, nuclear buds, apoptotic fragments, and bilobed cells) even at the lowest dose tested (0.35 μg g−1) and in a dose-dependent manner (0.35 and 3.5 μg g−1) for micronuclei, apoptotic fragments, and bilobed cells. As genomic instability may lead to carcinogenesis, the present evidence can assist decision-makers in banning this compound since any benefit toward food production is outweighed by the hazard to aquatic ecosystems and human health.
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Acknowledgements
The present work was sponsored by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – CAPES (CIMAR No 1988/2014). G. Fillmann was a research fellow of CNPq (PQ 312341/2013-0 and 314202/2018-8). The authors would like to thank Paulo Victor Miranda Figueiredo for the essential help in the fish sampling and maintenance in the laboratory.
Funding
Financial support was provided by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES—CIMAR II Project No 1988/201). G. Fillmann was sponsored by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq—PQ 312341/2013–0).
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MSC and RLS conceived and designed the study. MSC, LCCP, TAT, LFCC, and MBJ conducted the literature search. MSC, LCCP, and TAT were involved in the analysis and interpretation of data. MSC, LCCP, TAT, LFCC, MBJ, and RLS drafted the manuscript. The study was supervised by LFCC, MBJ, GF, and RLS. All authors read and approved the manuscript.
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Castro, M.S., Penha, L.C.C., Torres, T.A. et al. Genotoxic and mutagenic effects of chlorothalonil on the estuarine fish Micropogonias furnieri (Desmarest, 1823). Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 23504–23511 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-17328-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-17328-2