NONGENOTOXIC EFFECTS OF SELECTED PESTICIDES AND THEIR DISINFECTION BY-PRODUCTS ON GAP JUNCTIONAL INTERCELLULAR COMMUNICATION

The presence of pesticides in drinking water poses a human health risk and disinfection can either exacerbate or reduce these health risks b y producing by-products that are either more or less toxic than the pa rent compound. Human exposure to environmental pollutants usually is a t low levels in nature, chronic, and often involves non-genotoxic mech anisms of cellular injury such as aberrant intercellular gap junctiona l communication (GJIC). Compounds toxic to GJIC are known to cause tum or promotion, neuropathy and teratogenesis. The non-genotoxic effects of atrazine, alachlor, carbofuran, 2,4-D and lindane and their ozonati on and chlorination by-products were determined as a function of gap j unction intercellular communication (GJIC) activity in F344-WB rat liv er epithelial cells. Lindane did not react with either ozone or chlori ne and was toxic to GJIC. All the other pesticides reacted with both o zone and chlorine to various degrees and the by-products formed from t hese pesticides were not significantly more toxic to GJIC than the par ent compounds.