INVITRO CYTOTOXICITY OF 45 PESTICIDES TO GOLDFISH GF-SCALE (GFS) CELLS

The cytotoxicities of 45 pesticides including 18 organophosphates and 7 carbamates to GF-Scale (GFS) cells, derived from the scale of goldfish (Carassius auratus), were determined with the 24-hr neutral red assay. The assay revealed that 13 pesticides were classified into the highly cytotoxic group (NR50 less-than-or-equal-to 10 mg/L), while 17 pesticides were moderate (10 < NR50 less-than-or-equal-to 100 mg/L) and 15 were relatively low (100 mg/L < NR50). Carbamates were less cytotoxic (200 mg/L < NR50) than organophosphates. And the 24-h NR50 values for the cytotoxicity to GFS cells were compared to published 48-h LC50 values for the acute lethal toxicity of the same pesticides to carp. A significant correlation was found between the NR50 and LC50 values (n = 34, r = 0.848, s = 0.381, F = 81.5) excluding 11 pesticides that neither NR50 nor LC50 values were not obtained for their low solubility. This result demonstrates that the in vitro cytotoxicity assays using GFS cells are useful for the prediction of the acute toxicity of pesticides to fish.