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ToxSci Advance Access published online on November 13, 2008
Toxicological Sciences, doi:10.1093/toxsci/kfn232
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Toxicology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
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Does Atrazine Influence Larval Development and Sexual Differentiation in Xenopus laevis?

Werner Kloas*, Ilka Lutz*, Timothy Springer{dagger}, Henry Krueger{dagger}, Jeff Wolf{ddagger}, Larry Holden§ and Alan Hosmer

* Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, 12587 Berlin, Germany, (werner.kloas{at}igb-berlin.de; ilka.lutz{at}igb-berlin.de) {dagger} Wildlife International Ltd., Easton, MD 21601 (tspringe{at}wildlifeinternational.com; hkrueger{at}wildlifeinternational.com) {ddagger} Experimental Pathology Laboratories, Reston, VA, 20167 (jwolf{at}epl-inc.com) § Sielken and Associates, Bryan, TX. 77802 (larry{at}sielkenassociates.com) Syngenta, Crop Protection Inc., Greensboro, NC 27409 (alan.hosmer{at}syngenta.com)

Corresponding author: Alan Hosmer, 410 Swing Road, Building L, Greeensboro, NC 27409, alan.hosmer{at}syngenta.com, 336-632-7581 (Fax), 336-632-7359 (Phone)

Received June 20, 2008; revision received October 20, 2008; accepted October 30, 2008


  Abstract

Debate and controversy exists concerning the potential for the herbicide atrazine to cause gonadal malformations in developing Xenopus laevis. Following review of the existing literature the US Environmental Protection Agency required a rigorous investigation conducted under standardized procedures. Xenopus laevis tadpoles were exposed to atrazine at concentrations of 0.01, 0.1, 1, 25 or 100 µg/L from day 8 post-fertilization (dpf) until completion of metamorphosis or dpf 83, whichever came first. Nearly identical experiments were performed in two independent laboratories: Experiment 1 at Wildlife International Ltd. (WLI) and Experiment 2 at the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB). Both experiments employed optimized animal husbandry procedures and environmental conditions in validated flow-through exposure systems. The two experiments demonstrated consistent survival, growth and development of Xenopus laevis tadpoles, and all measured parameters were within the expected ranges and were comparable in negative control and atrazine-treated groups. Atrazine, at concentrations up to 100 µg/L, had no effect in either experiment on the percentage of males or the incidence of mixed sex as determined by histological evaluation. In contrast, exposure of larval Xenopus laevis to 0.2 µg 17ß-estradiol/L as the positive control resulted in gonadal feminization. Instead of an even distribution of male and female phenotypes, percentages of males:females:mixed sex were 19:75:6 and 22:60:18 in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively. These studies demonstrate that long-term exposure of larval Xenopus laevis to atrazine at concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 100 µg/L does not affect growth, larval development or sexual differentiation.


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