IN VIVO TOXICOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF WATER SAMPLES FROM THREE FARM SETTLEMENTS IN Allium cepa AND Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

Pesticides are widely used all over the world, especially in agricultural sectors to increase food production, in order to meet up with the increasing food demand of the teeming population. However, there are concerns that pesticides might have hazardous long term or short term effects on non- target organism and also persist in the environment as residues, especially in water reservoirs. This experiment was designed to determine the presence of pesticide residue in water samples from three farm three farm settlements where pesticides are actively used and investigate potential toxicological effects of pesticide residues in a living system using Allium cepa and Drosophila melanogaster as biological models. A gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis was carried out on water samples from three farm settlements in Epe, Ikorodu and Badagry areas to determine the presence and concentration of pesticides residues. Standard Allium cepa assay was used to assess cytogenotoxicity while both genotoxicity and neurotoxicity were assessed using RAPD and climbing assays respectively in Drosophila melanogaster exposed to the water sample using dietary method. The results from the GC-MS showed the presence of pesticide residue each water sample in significant amounts. The results showed presence of pesticide residues in the water sample and the water sample induced cytotoxicity, neurotoxicity and higher frequency of chromosome aberrations compared to the control. The presence of pesticide residues contributed to the toxic effects observed in A. cepa and D. melanogaster. Keywords: Pesticides are widely used all over the world, especially in agricultural sectors to increase food production, in order to meet up with the increasing food demand of the teeming population. However, there are concerns that pesticides might have hazardous long term or short term effects on non- target organism and also persist in the environment as residues, especially in water reservoirs. This experiment was designed to determine the presence of pesticide residue in water samples from three farm three farm settlements where pesticides are actively used and investigate potential toxicological effects of pesticide residues in a living system using Allium cepa and Drosophila melanogaster as biological models. A gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis was carried out on water samples from three farm settlements in Epe, Ikorodu and Badagry areas to determine the presence and concentration of pesticides residues. Standard Allium cepa assay was used to assess cytogenotoxicity while both genotoxicity and neurotoxicity were assessed using RAPD and climbing assays respectively in Drosophila melanogaster exposed to the water sample using dietary method. The results from the GC-MS showed the presence of pesticide residue each water sample in significant amounts. The results showed presence of pesticide residues in the water sample and the water sample induced cytotoxicity, neurotoxicity and higher frequency of chromosome aberrations compared to the control. The presence of pesticide residues contributed to the toxic effects observed in A. cepa and D. melanogaster. Keywords: Pesticides residues, cytogenotoxicity, RAPD, neurotoxicity, Allium cepa and Drosophila melanogaster.