Genotoxicity of AMPA, the environmental metabolite of glyphosate, assessed by the Comet assay and cytogenetic tests

Formulations containing glyphosate are the most widely used herbicides in the world. AMPA is the major environmental breakdown product of glyphosate. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the in vitro genotoxicity of AMPA using the Comet assay in Hep-2 cells after 4 h of incubation and the chromosome aberration (CA) test in human lymphocytes after 48 h of exposition. Potential in vivo genotoxicity was evaluated through the micronucleus test in mice. In the Comet assay, the level of DNA damage in exposed cells at 2.5–7.5 mM showed a significant increase compared with the control group. In human lymphocytes we found statistically significant clastogenic effect AMPA at 1.8 mM compared with the control group. In vivo, the micronucleus test rendered significant statistical increases at 200–400 mg/kg. AMPA was genotoxic in the three performed tests. Very scarce data are available about AMPA potential genotoxicity.