EFFECTS OF SULPROFOS AND ITS SULFOXIDE AND SULFONE METABOLITES ON LAYING HENS FED THE COMPOUNDS IN THE DIET

The organophosphate insecticide sulprofos (Bolstar, BAY NTN 9306, O-ethyl O-[4-(methylthio)phenyl] S-propyl phosphorodithioate) and its sulfoxide and sulfone metabolites were added to the diet of White Leghorn laying hens as a 2: 5: 3 mixture of sulprofos/sulfoxide/sulfone. At the highest treatment level (150 ppm), the treated diet was apparently highly unpalatable, and feed consumption was greatly reduced; loss of weight and drop in egg production resulted. At treatment levels of 50 ppm or lower in the diet, these effects were reduced or nonexistent. Serum cholinesterase (ChE) activities were significantly decreased in birds fed diets containing as little as 2.7 ppm of the insecticide mixture, but ChE activity increased quickly after the birds were transferred to untreated feed. Analysis of tissues and eggs from birds maintained on the treated diet for 28 days showed no detectable residues (<0.05 ppm) of sulprofos or its intact ester metabolites, except in skin and fat of some of the birds fed at the highest treatment level. Histopathological examination of selected tissues from the treated birds showed no lesions. © 1979, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.