Morphological and cellular effects in Boana faber tadpoles (Anura: Hylidae) exposed to atrazine-based herbicide and glyphosate-based herbicide and their mixtures

Atrazine and glyphosate are considered some of the main pollutants for aquatic ecosystems, directly and indirectly affecting non-target organisms, such as amphibians. This study aimed to evaluate the sublethal effects of different concentrations of atrazine-based herbicide (ABH) and glyphosate-based herbicide (GBH) commercial formulations, both individually and in a mixture, through toxicity tests on the larval stage of Boana faber. Tadpoles were exposed to concentrations of ABH (2, 9.33, 10.40, 47.21, and 240 μg L^-1) and GBH (65, 144, 280, 500, and 1000 μg L^-1), as well as a mixture ABH + GBH, for 7 days. Although survival and swimming activity were not significantly affected by herbicide exposure, tadpoles in all treatments showed damage to the mouth and intestine, changes in size and mass, and an increase in the frequency of micronuclei and other nuclear abnormalities. Despite differences in some variables analyzed, it is not possible to definitively state that there is a difference in the toxicity of these two herbicides, as both caused morphological damage and were cyto-genotoxic. Our findings suggest that exposure to commercial formulations of these herbicides, whether alone or in mixture, can directly impact the quality of life of B. faber tadpoles.