CYTOTOXIC EFFECTS OF TRIAZOLE FUNGUCIDES

SUMMARY Fungicides are at high risk exposure compounds both pre and post harvest time due to their usage during storage. Fungucides have various benefits on agricultural struggle. Apart from that, studies showed that fungucides also have mutagenic, carcinogenic, chronic toxic effects on nervous system, immune system, hormonal and reproductive system. Triazole group fungicides, prochloraz, tebuconazole, triadimenole and triadimefone, are commonly used in the world. In the study, it is aimed to emphasize about their importance on human and environmental health. And, we evaluated their potential cytotoxic effect on HeLa cells by using MTT and LDH tests. Before the tests application, the parameters like cell counts, incubation times, pesticide concentrations and test circumstances were examined for test optimization. As a result, for MTT cytotoxicity test IC50 values of prochloraz, tebuconazole, triadimefone and triadimenole were recorded in order as 0.4, >1, 0.24 and 0.37 mg/ml. As well for LDH test these values were identified in order as 0.065, 0.985, 0.052 and 0.042 mg/ml. MTT test, used to identify hazards on mitochondrial activity and respiratory chain, showed that cytotoxic effect of prochloraz, triadimefone and triadimenole was dose dependently increased. While tebuconazole showed cytotoxic effect on concentration range studied, it was seen that IC50 values for LDH test which is used to identify membrane damage were lower than IC50 values compared with MTT test. The obtained results would draw attention to expand researches on toxic effects of triazole fungicides which are identified as cytotoxic for human and environment health. Also, it is believed to take necessary precautions for usage of these compounds. Key words: Triazole fungicides, MTT test, LDH test, Cytotoxicity