Approaches to the Genetic Safety Evalution of Agricultural Chemicals

Abstract

The utility of information acquired from the application of genetic tests to the safety evaluation of agricultural chemicals such as animal drugs or pesticides, involves the same considerations that are used for other environmental substances. Data from a battery of short-term tests composed primarily of in vitro models are used to indicate the potential for certain types of irreversible toxicity. Reproducibly positive results in a suitably selected group of assays, properly performed, indicates the compound under study is a potential mutagen and/or a potential carcinogen. Further studies in mammals are required to determine if this potential is expressed as heritable genetic change or as carcinogenicity. It must be stressed that meaningful evaluations are dependent on a group of assays in a screening phase because no single assay can perform the safety evaluation function adequately. Both gene mutation and chromosomal-level effects must be evaluated. Further, there is a need for comparative test information which gives perspective to any single test result and provides the genetic toxicologist the means to evaluate the toxic potential of the chemical. Also, the absence of an extensive data base across the spectrum of chemical classes makes a degree of redundancy in assay application necessary.