Are Pyrethroids Safe?: Toxic Mechanisms of Pyrethroids Studied in Vitro

Pyrethroids are insecticides widely used in agriculture and gardening. They form a group of chemically different compounds with a high degree of efficacy and low human toxicity. Pyrethroids are often regarded as a modern of 'safe' insecticides, because they are rapidly metabolised in mammals and ecosystems, which explains their low toxicity. The natural pyrethroid compounds, pyrethrins, were already known in China in the first century AD. In the 1940s the producing of synthetic pyrethroids began, and pyrethroid compounds are now routinely synthetised by the agrochemical industry. The neurotoxicity of pyrethroids is based on their effects on the neuronal cell membrane. The non -neurotoxic effects referred to are e.g. allergenic effects, estrogenic effects and interaction with the cell cycle. The present study showed that the neural membrane integral protein ATPase is a target for the effects of pyrethroids. The in vitro study on breast carcinoma cell line showed the possibly estrogen -like effect of pyrethroids.