Determination of the Lethal Concentration (LC50) of Picloram and Linuron in Caenorhabditis Elegans

Herbicides account for approximately 52% of the global pesticide market share. In general, the use of herbicides has ensured weed control and significantly increased crop yields. Despite their positive effects on agriculture, first-generation herbicides have caused significant adverse effects on the environment and human health due to their high persistence and off-target toxicity. Growing awareness of human and environmental health has made it essential for newly developed herbicides to possess target specificity, high selectivity, low toxicity, and low application rates, as well as being economically and environmentally friendly. In many countries where tillage and irrigation methods for weed control have been reduced to conserve natural resources such as soil, water, and energy, herbicide use is on the rise. Most herbicides can be toxic to living organisms under conditions of high exposure. In this study, the toxic effects of certain doses of picloram and linuron on the lifespan of C. elegans were determined using LC50 (50% lethal concentration) values. In the study, the LC50 values ​​were found as follows: LC50 6 hours = 5593 µM, LC50 12 hours = 5797 µM, LC50 18 hours = 1723 µM, LC50 24 hours = 699 µM. Similarly, the LC50 values ​​for picloram were as follows: LC50 6 hours = 13263 µM, LC50 12 hours = 10247 µM, LC50 18 hours = 4157 µM, LC50 24 hours = 1921 µM. At the highest linuron dose (1000 µM), mortality rates of 26.6%, 31.6%, 46.6%, and 56.6% were observed at 6, 12, 18, and 24 hours, respectively. At the highest (1000 µM) picloram dose, mortality rates of 11.6%, 18.3%, 28.3%, and 40% were observed after 6, 12, 18, and 24 hours, respectively.