The Investigation of Diazinon Toxicity in Root Tip Cells of Allium cepa(Onion) L.

In recent years, agricultural production and productivity using chemical pesticides have increased considerably. This increase is not without its concomitant environmental and health problems. In this study, the toxic effect of Diazinon in insecticides used the combat pests in agricultural areas, have been investigated using Allium cepa L. test material. The percentage of germination, root length, weight increase and anatomical damages as physiological indicators of toxicity, mitotic index (MI), chromosomal aberrations and micronuclei (MN), were used as the cytogenetic indicators of toxicity. The A. cepa L. heads were divided into four groups, comprising control group and the other as Diazinon treatment group. Seeds in the control group were treated with tap water for 72 hours, whereas seeds in the Diazinon treatment group were treated with 50, 250 and 500 mg Ldoses. As a result, depending on the Diazinon doses, decrease in dose dependent germination percentage, root length, weight increase and MI toxicity have been observed, whereas increase in numbers of chromosomal aberrations, MN and anatomical damage have observed. As a result, it is shown that Diazinon used in agriculture may cause toxicity at high doses.