The intensive use of
herbicides over the last few decades has caused a general increase of environmental pollution. It is thus very important to evaluate the possible genotoxic properties of these chemical compounds as well as identifying their mode of action. Phenylurea
herbicides are selective agents widely used for the control of infestant plants. Of these
herbicides, which are widely used in agriculture, we analysed four of the less intensively studied molecules. More precisely, we investigated the genotoxic effects of
fenuron,
chlorotoluron,
diuron, and difenoxuron by analyses of
chromosomal aberrations (CAs) and sister chromatid exchange (SCE) in exposed mammalian cells. We used the Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) and epithelial liver (CHEL) cell lines, endowed with the absence or the presence, respectively, of an enzymatic system to activate pro-mutagenic compounds. Our results show that all
herbicides tested induce, at high concentrations, an increasing number of CAs in non-metabolising CHO cells. Instead, in the exposed CHEL cell line, the four
herbicides induced CAs also at the lowest dose-level. In the CHEL cells, a statistically significant increase of SCE was also observed. The phenylurea
herbicides showed direct genotoxic activity, but the cytogenetic effects were greatly enhanced after metabolic conversion. These data, together with other information on phenylurea
herbicides, are of great interest from the environmental point of view, and for human health. In fact, intensive use of
herbicides contaminates soil, surface water, groundwater and agricultural products, and thus should be taken in particular consideration not only for those initiatives to specifically protect exposed workers, but also to safeguard the health of consumers of agricultural products.