Toxicological assessment of synthetic pesticides on physiology of Phaseolus vulgaris L. and Pisum sativum L. along with their correlation to health hazards: A case study in south-west Nagaland, India

Pesticide toxicity has been a major concern in the recent time. Higher concentrations of pesticides affect the organisms and environmental health. The present study aims to assess the toxicological effect of some commonly used pesticides in southwest Nagaland of India and their impact on the physiology of Phaseolus vulgaris and Pisum sativum along with their correlation to health hazards. The study area is a hilly region where the overall temperature ranges in between 2 °C and 35 °C. The annual rainfall received in the region is between 1000 and 2000 mm. The region shares a subtropical to tropical climate. Agriculture is the main activity of the region. Seeds of Phaseolus vulgaris and Pisum sativum were collected from the local market and sterilized with 2 % sodium hypochlorite for 15 min. The solution of monocrotophos, chlorpyrifos, dimethoate, dichlorvos, and cypermethrin was prepared with 1 ppm, 10 ppm, 50 ppm, and 100 ppm concentrations. The seeds were soaked for 24 h in the test solutions and kept uniformly in sterilized petri dishes in 10 ml of test solutions. For every experiment, three replicates of each sample were taken including the control. The control sample was run with tap water. For each replica 10 seeds were taken, so one sample contained 30 seeds. The seeds of the above two vegetable species were treated with these pesticides and analyzed for germination rate, phytotoxicity, dry biomass, and seedling vigor index. The result has shown the negative impact of higher concentrations of pesticides on plant physiology. A questionnaire and interview-based field survey were also conducted among the users to find out exposure-related health hazards of pesticides. The average time utilized for a single interview was 30 min. According to the self-assessed reports of 323 pesticide users, 17 physical disorders were recorded from the study. Eye irritation (49.12), excessive sweating (46.68), and excessive tiredness were some of the highly observed signs and symptoms among the users. For the statistical analysis, analysis of variance (ANOVA) for the biomass production in radicle and plumule of the studied species was done with OriginPro 8.5 software. A chi-square (χ²) test was performed at the significance level of 5 % for the comparative study among male and female farmers for exposure-related disorders. The correlation analysis was done with MS-EXCEL software. A coefficient correlation value of 0.54 was recorded, which indicates a positive correlation between the studied factors.