Mutagenicity of the triazine herbicides atrazine, cyanazine, and simazine inDrosophila melanogaster

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Abstract
Assays for dominant lethal mutations, sex‐linked recessive lethal mutations, and chromosomal breakage, nondisjunction and loss were performed on Drosophila melanogaster males treated by injection or by larval feeding of the herbicides atrazine (2‐chloro‐4‐ethylamino‐6‐isopropylamino‐1,3,5‐triazine), cyanazine [2‐chloro‐4‐(1‐cyano‐1‐methylethylamino)‐6‐ethylamino‐1,3,5‐triazine], or simazine [2‐chloro‐4,6‐bis‐(ethylamino)‐1,3,5‐triazine]. The three herbicides significantly increased the rate of apparent dominant lethals, but this reduction in egg hatch was probably due to physiologic toxicity to sperm. Atrazine significantly increased X‐linked recessive lethals and X or Y loss after treatment by larval feeding. Injection of simazine elevated X‐linked lethals, whereas treatment by larval feeding did not. None of these herbicides significantly increased partial loss of the Y chromosome nor sex chromosome nondisjunction. Much larger experiments are needed to determine with confidence the mutagenic potential of these herbicides.