Toxicological Effects of Chlorpyrifos, Dichlorvos and Alpha Cypermethrin on Adult Albino Mice, Mus musculus

The study was carried out to investigate the toxicological effects of three pesticides: chlorpyrifos, dichlorvos and alphacypermethrin on body weight, haematology, systemic, biochemical parameters and semen of adult mice. The mice were used to simulate the incessant exposure of people working with these pesticides, especially the local retailers and farmers who use them on daily basis with no appropriate storage facility and most often stored in poorly ventilated rooms. Mice were exposed 8hrs daily to the fumes of these pesticides and fed pelleted mice feeds for 8weeks. There was a decrease in weight of mice exposed to the insecticides with chlorpyrifos being the most affected. Mice exposed to alphacypermethrin and the control showed no physiological changes while those exposed to chlorpyrifos and dichlorvos showed skin lesions and inflamed bladder respectively. Histology of tissues of the brain, liver, lung and kidney showed edema, inflammations, congestions, nephritis and necrosis. Haematological parameters showed significant decrease in Red Blood Cell (RBC), Haemoglobin (HGB) and Packed Cell Volume (PCV) (P<0.05) except the White Blood Cell (WBC), which increased insignificantly (P>0.05). Biochemical parameters showed insignificant increase in Aspartate aminotransferase (AST), Alkaline phosphatase (ALP), creatinine and urea levels (P>0.05) except the Alanine phosphatase (ASP) which showed a significant increase (P<0.05). Semen analysis revealed decreased sperm motility and an increase in abnormal sperm cells. The study showed that exposure to pesticides may lead to adverse health effects as evidenced by the results from the present study and the extrapolation to humans situations is also discussed