Studies on genetical effect of pesticides in Drosophila melanogaster.

The toxicity and mutagenicity of 1,2,4,5-tetrachlorobenzene (TCB), 1,4,5-trichloro-2,6-nitrobenzene (TCNB), pentachloronitrobenzene (PCNB), methyl-l-(butyl-carbamoyl)-2-benzimidazole carbamate (BENOMYL) fungicides and dimethy-2,3,5,6-tetrachloro-terephthalate (DCPA) herbicide were studied. The test compounds were administered by larval feeding. Benomyl was found to be the most toxic compound, its LC50 value was 0.24 mM. DCPA had no toxic effect in the 0.1--10 mM concentration range. The sex-linked recessive lethal was used for detection of genetic end point. No significant increase in mutation frequency was observed after the larvae had been fed on media containing pesticides under the LC50 concentration.