Mutagenic potential of acute exposure to organophosphorus and organochlorine compounds.

The cytogenetic and cytotoxic effects of the pesticides methyl parathion, Bayleton and Hinosan were evaluated in mammalian test systems. The frequency of chromosome aberrations and micronuclei in bone marrow cells and the arginase enzyme profile in the liver tend to show the genotoxicity of organophosphorus and organochlorine pesticides in a single-exposure response study. Methyl parathion was the most hazardous among the three, showing definite pathology in the livers of treated rats.