A safety study on rat's eye after 13-week oral administration with fenitrothion

The potential of ocular toxicity of fenitrothion (O,O-dimethyl O-4-nitrom-tolyl phosphorothioate) was assessed in Sprague-Dawley (Crj:CD) rats of both sexes receiving a diet containing the test compound at concentrations of 0, 2.5, 5, 10, or 30 ppm for 13 weeks. The animals were observed daily for clinical signs and their body weights and food consumption were measured weekly during the study. At termination of treatment, surviving animals were subjected to ophthalmoscopy, electroretinography, and biochemical analyses of plasma, erythrocyte, and brain cholinesterase (ChE). Histopathological examinations of ocular tissues were performed on all animals by light microscopy and on two animals/sex/dose by electron microscopy. There were no treatment-related changes in clinical signs, body weights, and food consumption. A significant inhibition of ChE activity was observed in males (plasma and erythrocyte ChE) and females (plasma, erythrocyte, and brain ChE) at 30 ppm and in females (plasma ChE) at 10 ppm. Ophthalmological and histopathological examinations revealed neither functional nor morphological alterations in the visual system at any dose level. Under the conditions of the present study, there was no evidence of ocular toxicity of fenitrothion for male and female rats at dose levels up to 30 ppm (1.70 mg/kg/day for males and 1.96 mg/kg/day for females) where distinct inhibition of ChE activity was observed.