Comparative study on pesticide mixture of organophosphorus and pyrethroid in commercial formulation

The marketing of mixtures of organophosphate and pyrethroid insecticides has become very common in developing countries and has resulted in an increase in the prevalence of toxicity. The present study aimed to evaluate the toxic effects of a commercial preparation of the pesticide mixture durasin, which contains 60% diazinon and 0.5% deltamethrin, compared with the individual commercial pesticides of diazinon 30% and deltamethrin 5%. Forty male albino rats weighing 160 +/- 20g were divided into; DA (diazinon 20 mg/Kg b.w.), DA (deltamethrin 2 mg/Kg b.w.), M (durasin 20 mg/Kg b.w.) and control (C); cholinesterase (ChE), malonaldehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), glutathione-S-transferase (CST), superoxide dismutase (SOD), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TC) and non-specific esterase's isoenzymes in rat's blood were determined following 7 and 14 days of treatment. The weekly-recorded biochemical results were used as criteria for estimating the joint effects of the tested pesticide mixture. Antioxidant defense mechanisms and lipid peroxidation in rat plasma displayed the same responses with intensities which were related to the different treatments. Biochemical analysis showed that (DA) or (DM) individually cause alteration in lipid metabolism and non-specific esterase, while mixture treatment (M) induced antagonistic effects toward all the tested parameters except total reduced glutathione level, which was synergistic at the 2nd week. In conclusion the commercial mixture (M) under study has potentially greater toxic impact than the components alone in the rat. Crown Copyright (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.