Differential effects of arsenite and arsenate to Drosophila melanogaster in a combined adult/developmental toxicity assay

Current concern of the environmental consequences of chemical wastes in soils has led to the development of microbial, plant, and, to a lesser extent, animal bioassays for terrestrial ecosystems. This paper evaluated a Drosophila assay that yields data both on acute toxicity to adults and on developmental toxicity to offspring and which is applicable for screening extracts from soils contaminated with chemical wastes. Acute toxicity assays with Drosophila have been used to evaluate the relative potencies of chemicals. The acute toxicity to adults and the developmental exposure bioassays were designed to be performed as separate tests. This paper combined these two tests into a single bioassay, using arsenic compounds as the test agents. Arsenite and arsenate were selected to evaluate the sensitivity of this combined assay in distinguishing between the toxicities of closely related chemicals.