Oxidative stress and DNA alteration on the earthworm Eisenia fetida exposed to four commercial pesticides

Modern agriculture is mainly based on the use of pesticides to protect crops but their efciency is very low, in fact, most of them reach water or soil ecosystems causing pollution and health hazards to non-target organisms. Fungicide triazoles and strobilurins based are the most widely used and require a specifc efort to investigate toxicological efects on non-target species. This study evaluates the toxic efects of four commercial fungicides Prosaro® (tebuconazole and prothioconazole), Amistar®Xtra (azoxystrobin and cyproconazole), Mirador® (azoxystrobin) and Icarus® (Tebuconazole) on Eisenia fetida using several biomarkers: lipid peroxidation (LPO), catalase activity (CAT), glutathione S-transferase (GST), total glutathione (GSHt), DNA fragmentation (comet assay) and lysozyme activity tested for the frst time in E. fetida. The exposure to Mirador® and AmistarXtra® caused an imbalance of ROS species, leading to the inhibition of the immune system. AmistarXtra® and Prosaro®, composed of two active ingredients, induced signifcant DNA alteration, indicating genotoxic efects. This study broadened our knowledge of the efects of pesticide product formulations on earthworms and showed the need for improvement in the evaluation of toxicological risk deriving from the changing of physicochemical and toxicological properties that occur when a commercial formulation contains more than one active ingredient and several unknown co-formulants.