A Study on the Effects of Copper and ?Hostathion on Selected Metabolic and Haematological Parameters of a Teleost Fish, Oreochromis mossambicus

Toxicology, the study of poisons, is typically a multidisciplinary field of science which deals with the detrimental consequences of toxic substances on individual organisms and involves the analyses of internal distribution of toxicants in the body of organisms and their mode of action. It also deals with the transformation of toxicants within the organisms and the formation of their metabolites. Today, environmental pollution, which causes hazards to fauna and flora as well as human health, has become a major global issue. Water pollution is recognized globally as a potential threat to both human and other animal populations which interact with the aquatic environments. The aquatic environment is subjected to different types of pollutants which enter water bodies with industrial, domestic and agricultural waste waters and severely affect the aquatic organisms by tampering with the natural quality of water. Day by day our water bodies are getting more and more contaminated with diverse toxic substances. This can be a serious problem as far as Kerala is concerned. Kerala is a South Indian state which has innumerable water bodies as well as cultivation areas. Pesticides that are applied in the paddy fields can run off in to the water bodies and there by contaminate them. Both the flora and fauna of these contaminated water bodies too get affected which will definitely affect the biodiversity of these water bodies. The present study was an attempt to compare the toxicity between a heavy metal (copper) and a pesticide (®Hostathion) on the behavioural as well as metabolic and haematological parameters of the fish Oreochromis mossambicus. Results clearly show that pesticides have an adverse effect on the living biota in aquatic environments. Hence it is highly imperative that we should resort to biopesticides.