Mutagenicity is a key biological effect environmental contaminants may exert. In our examinations groundwater samples -originating mainly from cereal fields -were analyzed. Mutagenicity was determined by application of the somatic mutation and recombination test (SMART). The test utilizes Drosophila melanogaster females carrying mwh (multi wing hair) and males carrying flr (flare) recessive marker mutations. Homozygote mwh cells grow 3-7 hairs in bundles, while flr homozygote cells form a single curly hair. Treated larvae derive from the hybridization of such parents. Larvae surviving the exposition of mutagens and developing into imagoes have possible mosaic patches on wings. As a new approach towards the practical application of the SMART test, the first step was to survey most frequent pesticides in Hungarian ground water samples. In parallel, aquatic toxicity biotests were carried out using the Daphina magna Straus. The most contaminated water samples, containing residues of acetochlor, atrazine, diazinon, metolachlor, terbutryn and/or trifluralin at levels of 0.18 to over 1000 ng ml -1 showed acute toxicity in the Daphnia magna test, but no mutagenic effect (mutation frequency was <10 -4 ) in the SMART test.