A Study on Genotoxic Potential of Acephate in Clarias batrachus

Abstract

Acephate is an insecticide made up of organophosphates. It is applied to food crops, citrus trees, on golf courses, in commercial or institutional buildings, and as a seed treatment. Products containing acephate can be purchased as tablets, liquids, granules, powders, and water-soluble packs. Acephate 75% brand name-Asataf insecticide manufactured by TATA RALLIS was used for the test. The solvent used was glass double distilled (g.d.d.) water. Fresh water catfish    Clarias batrachus were collected from local water bodies of Cuttack district. All the fishes were acclimatized for fifteen days in laboratory aquaria containing 30L dechlorinated tap water prior to the initiation of the experiment. The peripheral blood smear slides were prepared from the blood collected by caudal incision in accordance with Al-Sabti (1986) and Das and Nanda (1986) with some modifications which were prepared animals were sacrificed after 24, 48 and 72 hours of Exposure and were used for each treatment group in both types of administrations (IP and dermal). The increased concentration of acephate directly affects our biological fish sample i.e. Clarias batrachus. Acephate is causing serious problems in fish as per our genotoxicity study of acephate on Clarias batrachus. Clarias batrachus is a commonly found fish species in fresh water habitat which includes ponds, ditches, wetlands and rice fields of India specially in Odisha.The irrational use of pesticides containing acephate in agriculture cause harmful effects on Clarias batrachus, which is a most important species of fish for maintaining the aquatic diversity.