Common insecticide disrupts aquatic communities: A mesocosm-to-field ecological risk assessment of fipronil and its degradates in U.S. streams.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 33097542.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.abc1299 and PMC identifier 7608825.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC.
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Abstract
Insecticides in streams are increasingly a global concern, yet information on safe concentrations for aquatic ecosystems is sparse. In a 30-day mesocosm experiment exposing native benthic aquatic invertebrates to the common insecticide fipronil and four degradates, fipronil compounds caused altered emergence and trophic cascades. Effect concentrations eliciting a 50% response (EC<sub>50</sub>) were developed for fipronil and its sulfide, sulfone, and desulfinyl degradates; taxa were insensitive to fipronil amide. Hazard concentrations for 5% of affected species derived from up to 15 mesocosm EC<sub>50</sub> values were used to convert fipronil compound concentrations in field samples to the sum of toxic units (∑TU<sub>Fipronils</sub>). Mean ∑TU<sub>Fipronils</sub> exceeded 1 (indicating toxicity) in 16% of streams sampled from five regional studies. The Species at Risk invertebrate metric was negatively associated with ∑TU<sub>Fipronils</sub> in four of five regions sampled. This ecological risk assessment indicates that low concentrations of fipronil compounds degrade stream communities in multiple regions of the United States.