Avaliação da genotoxicidade e estresse oxidativo em planárias aquáticas (Dugesia schubarti) tratadas com formulações do herbicida glifosato

Abstract

Currently, several glyphosate-based herbicide formulations are available in the market. However, different surfactants are also added to the formulation in order to increase the effectiveness of the product, what it can contribute significantly to the toxic effect exerted by the herbicide to the non target organisms. This study evaluated the genotoxicity and the oxidative stress in freshwater planarians exposed to the glyphosate formulations Roundup Original, Roundup Transorb and Roundup Ready. The planarians were submitted to 0.5 mg/L of glyphosate formulations during 4, 8, and 16h. The genotoxicity was evaluated through comet assay, and the oxidative stress was measured through the superoxide dismutase (Sod) and catalase (Cat) activity and by thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS). All three formulations were able to induce genotoxicity and to disturb the antioxidants activity in different ways. While Sod increased between 4 and 16h, TBARS decreased between 4 and 16h, and Cat stayed depressed during all time-points tested. These results demonstrate that herbicide formulations which contend glyphosate can induce damage to the DNA and to modify the oxidative balance in planarians, indicating that the toxicity of this herbicide is not restricted to the plants.