Introduction:
Public health concerns regarding the numerous potential adverse effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) on human development are ever emerging [1]. Fungicides are considered one of the more dangerous xenobiotics in terms of their capacity to affect the thyroid gland [2]. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA, 2019) has classified multiple fungicides as possible EDCs, including an anilinopyrimidine fungicide pyrimethanil (PYR) [3]. In our previous work we have further examined the effect of PYR in a 90-day subchronic study (as suggested by OECD’ Revised Guidance Document 150) on outbred adult rats of both sexes and found that PYR did not significantly affect hormone level in rats [4]. However, since EDCs have a profound impact on prenatal development [5], we decided to conduct an additional study of the embryotoxic and teratogenic effects of PYR on rats to verify our previous result. The study was performed on 83 female (211.76-273.32 g) and 40 male (241.85-282.45 g) outbred rats. Dose groups were 0, 10, 100 and 1000 mg/kg b.w. Females received PYR orally daily until day 20 of gestation. Water and feed intake, as well as body weight was monitored. On day 20 of gestation, females were euthanized to determine: the number of embryos, their weight including organ weight; total weight of the litter; the number of corpora luteum; weight and diameter of placenta. Teratogenic effects were assessed using the Wilson-Dyban and the Dawson methods [6]. Statistical analysis was performed with IBM SPSS Statistics v.22 (IBM Corporation, USA) at α=0.05. Statistically significant changes were observed only in females treated with the PYR dose of 1000 mg/kg b.w. as compared to control animals. Most of the females in this group showed clinical signs of intoxication: alopecia by the 20th day of pregnancy, as well as a decrease in feed intake throughout pregnancy. In addition, a significant decrease in their body weight was recorded by the 3rd week (mean of 305.53 g ±16.19 g (SE)) as compared to the control (390.78 ± 8.57 g (SE)). No signs of embryotoxicity and teratogenicity were recorded. Since PYR exhibited no potential for endocrine disruption in both a 90-day subchronic study and a prenatal toxicity study on rats it can be concluded that it is not likely to present a public health concern as an EDC.

Conflicts of Interest:
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest in the publication of this article. The authors have no conflicts of interest to report in this work. Abstract was not submitted elsewhere and published here firstly.