The effects of the synthetic dibromo-pyrethroid insecticide deltamethrin on some hepatic phase I and II enzyme activities were studied in rat liver. The animals were treated with daily doses of 5 and 10 mg/kg of both pure insecticide or its commercial formulation (Decis), administered i.p. in corn oil for 7 days. The following enzyme activities were studied: NADPH-cytochrome-P450 reductase, aryl-hydrocarbon hydroxylase, aminopyrine N-demethylase, glutamyl cysteine synthetase, glutathione S-transferase, glutathione peroxidase, peroxisomal acyl-CoA oxidase, catalase, and urate oxidase. Both deltamethrin and its commercial formulation were effective in modifying the activities of several of these hepatic xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes. However, some differences in enzyme modifications were found between treatment with pure or commercial deltamethrin, the latter being more active. This effect could be ascribed to additives, solvents, and chemical intermediates present in the Decis formulation. These results suggest that exposure to this deltamethrin commercial formulation could be more dangerous than exposure to deltamethrin alone, both in terms of its hepatotoxicity and/or alterations in the hepatic biotransformation of other occupational/environmental xenobiotics.