In vitro metabolism of pesticides and industrial chemicals in fish

Metabolism is one of the most important factors in controlling the toxicity and bioaccumulation of pesticides in fish. In vitro systems using subcellular fractions, cell lines, hepatocytes and tissues of a specific organ, each of which is characterized by usability, enzyme activity and chemical transport via membrane, have been applied to investigate the metabolic profiles of pesticides. Not only species and organs but also the fishkeeping conditions are known to greatly affect the in vitro metabolism of pesticides. A comparison of the metabolic profiles of pesticides and industrial chemicals taken under similar conditions has shown that in vitro systems using a subcellular S9 fraction and hepatocytes qualitatively reproduce many in vivo metabolic reactions. More investigation of these in vitro systems for pesticides is necessary to verify their applicability to the estimation of pesticide metabolism in fish.