Blood and tissue levels of diazinon in rabbit following a subacute dermal exposure to incremental doses

Uncontrolled application of diazinon (DZN) can cause environmental contamination and adverse health effects on humans or animals. This study aimed to investigate the toxic effects and the level of DZN in serum and tissues of rabbits following a sub acute dermal exposure to toxicant. Different doses of DZN were applied daily to New Zealand rabbits through the ear skin in incremental doses for 4 weeks. Blood samples were collected at the beginning and the end of each dose-week period. Tissue samples were collected from brain, muscle, kidney and liver on day 28, after euthanizing the rabbits. DZN contents of the blood and tissue samples were measured using a reversed phase HPLC system. Clinical observations indicated signs of toxicity in the animals exposed to DZN as shown by diarrhea and body weight loss from day twenty. The level of DZN in the blood elevated with enhancing exposure time and reached the highest level at the end of the fourth week (0.620±0.26ppm). The highest level of DZN was found in the brain tissue (0341±0.015 ppm). The results of this study revealed the tissue accumulation and subsequent toxic effects of DZN following the subacute dermal exposure to the toxicant. It suggests that the determination of the toxicant level in the serum or tissue can be a monitoring method for the detection of the contamination rate.