Abstract
A laboratory toxicity study on house mice and laboratory mice (Mus musculus), gray-tailed voles (Microtus canicaudus), and deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) was conducted as part of a comprehensive laboratory and field study to field validate laboratory-based risk assessment of pesticides. The single dose oral LD50 for the organophosphorus insecticide azinphos-methyl (Guthion®) was 10, 11, 32, and 48 mg/kg body weight in wild house mice, laboratory mice, gray-tailed voles, and deer mice, respectively. Ten-day dietary LC50s were 277 ppm for laboratory mice, 297 ppm for gray-tailed voles, and 1,180 ppm for deer mice. All treated animals lost more weight, consumed less food, and had depressed brain cholinesterase (ChE) activity compared to controls. Five-day LC50s were significantly higher than 10-day LC50s for laboratory mice and deer mice. For all three species, animals that died during dietary LC50 tests had mean ChE activity of 50–55% while survivors had 56–70% of controls. The conclusions were that: (1) Laboratory mice were not representative of deer mice or gray-tailed voles with respect to sensitivity to azinphosmethyl, but provided a conservative estimate for risk assessment; (2) 10-day dietary LC50 tests indicate substantially greater estimates of toxicity of azinphos-methyl to rodents than do 5-day tests; and (3) brain ChE depression of 45–50% was lethal in these species.
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Meyers, S.M., Wolff, J.O. Comparative toxicity of azinphos-methyl to house mice, laboratory mice, deer mice, and gray-tailed voles. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 26, 478–482 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00214150
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00214150