Cytogenetic activity of metabolites of pesticides representing different classes of chemical compounds

The cytogenetic activity of some substances formed in agricultural plants during metabolism of pesticides of four classes of chemical compounds was studied in the culture of human peripheric blood lymphocytes. Metabolites were shown either to have mutagenic properties similar to those of the initial compounds (ziramtetramethylthiourea, both being mutagens; captan-phthalimide, both possessing no cytogenetic activity) or to be considerably transformed in comparison with them as a result of deactivation (benomile-MBC) or activation (betanal-MHPC) processes. The latter variant if being determined for the genetic hazard of the pesticide necessitates to take into account data on the mutagenic character of those metabolites which really might enter the human organism.