A comparative toxicologic and genotoxic study of the herbicide arsenal, its active ingredient imazapyr, and the surfactant nonylphenol ethoxylate

The herbicide arsenal 250 NA, its technical-grade active ingredient imazapyr, and the surfactant nonylphenol ethoxylate (NP) were evaluated through genotoxicity and toxicity studies in different organisms. A comparative study of these three compounds was carried out to assess how the addition of surfactant components may pose the highest toxicological risk to pesticide formulations. The results showed that arsenal, imazapyr, and NP did not cause chromosome aberration in Allium cepa nor increase the frequency of micronuclei in mice. However, toxicological evaluations showed that NP was the most toxic compound to mice, A. cepa, Drosophila melanogaster, and Biomphalaria tenagophila. In this evaluation, it was observed that the adverse effects were produced by the surfactant additive of the pesticide formulation.