Exposure to β-cyfluthrin during pregnancy induces teratogenecity in murine foetuses

Teratogenecity of a pyrethroid insecticide,β-cyfluthrin was tested in developing foetuses of mice. for this purpose,different concentrations of insecticide i.e.,1.25,2.50 and 5.00 μg/g body weight were prepared by dissolving it in sterilized distilled water in such a way that each 0.1 ml of the solution contains desired concentration. the doses were given orally on day 6 of gestation and foetuses were recovered on day 18 of gestation. morphological studies of foetuses showed abnormalities including microcephaly,anophthalmia,micromelia,dysmorfogenesis,dysplasia and short tail. morphometric studies of body weight,crown rump length,brain size,length and width of eye,length of both fore limbs and hind limbs and length of tail of foetuses showed significant (p < 0.001) differences against controls. the study indicates that the insecticide is potentially dangerous to developing murine fetuses,and suggests that it may be potentially harmful to foetal development in humans. copyright © 2012 zoological society of pakistan.