Determination of Mutagenic Potential of Imidacloprid in Salmonella Typhimurium–TA 98 and TA 100 Following Bacterial Reverse Mutation Assay

India is an agrarian economy where use of pesticides has increased enormously to cater the food demands of increasing population. Imidacloprid is a relatively new systemic neonicotinoid insecticide with neurotoxic action as an alternative for commonly used organophosphorus insecticides in more than 100 countries. Imidacloprid is a nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist is an extensively used insecticide for crop protection worldwide since last decade. The mutagenicity of Imidacloprid was tested using Salmonella typhimurium TA98 and TA100 following the bacterial reverse mutation assay (Salmonella mutagenicity assay-Ames test). The Imidacloprid mutagenicity was determined by the number of revertant colonies in the presence of different concentrations (1μg to 20mg) along with DMSO & Sodium Azide (10 μg) as negative & positive control respectively. There was observed a dose dependent increase in the number of revertant colonies in both strains of Salmonella typhimurium TA98 and TA100. This leads to the conclusion that Imidacloprid causes potential genotoxic damage to non target organisms including sprayer farmers and/or their school going children exposed to the drug.