Toxicological Studies on a Soil Micro-Arthropod: An Indication on the Potential Threat in Soil Humus Formation

The soil dwelling organisms do a responsible function in the ecosystem by organic matter breakdown, nutrient cycling and soil structure stability. Agrochemicals have long been used in agriculture to control pests and diseases in crops and thereby increasing agricultural production. However most of them are toxic to non target species and may cause negative impacts on beneficial soil macro invertebrates. The four agrochemicals which are toxic in nature are tested for their toxicity to Phyloscia javanensis at different concentrations. The results of the experiments revealed that all the agrochemicals tested viz. , indofil, 2, 4-D, furudan and sevin, are highly toxic to the test animal even at low concentrations. The values LC-50 and LC-100 values obtained in the present study underlined the toxicity of these chemicals to soil organisms like Phyloscia. Also the residual remains of these agrochemicals in the soil pose a threat to the habitat of soil isopods.