Genotoxicity of Aphicide Plus® , Eco Fruit-fly Bait GF120® and Rosecare 3® in the Allium cepa assay

Abstract

Pesticides use boosts agricultural yield by reducing crop losses. However, some pesticides are mutagens and while technical grade active ingredients may produce mixed results in cytotoxicity and mutagenicity tests, synergistic interaction of pesticides, their metabolites or impurities in pesticide formulations often produce cytotoxic and genotoxic effects. A. cepa seedlings were treated for 24 hours, with three concentrations (mg mL-1) (0.04, 0.08 & 0.16) each of Aphicide Plus® (AP) (imidacloprid, 20g L-1); Eco Fruit-fly Bait GF120® (EF) (Spinosad, 0.24 g L-1) & Rosecare 3® (RC3) (bifenthrin, 2.0 g L-1 & myclobutanil, 7.5 g L-1) and the effects on the (P+M)/ (A+T) Ratio, cytotoxicity and genotoxicity were examined. The 0.08 mg mL-1 of AP, 0.04 mg mL-1 of EF, and 0.08 and 0.16 mg mL-1 of RC3 induced changes in the (P+M)/(A+T) ratio, (p > 0.05). The pesticides’ concentrations tested depressed the mitotic index, (P < 0.05) and were genotoxic, (P < 0.05)