Individual- and population-level toxicity of the insecticide, spirotetramat and the agricultural adjuvant, Destiny to the Cladoceran, Ceriodaphnia dubia

Abstract

The effects of the tetramic acid insecticide, spirotetramat and the agricultural adjuvant, Destiny, were evaluated on the Cladoceran, Ceriodaphnia dubia. These compounds were evaluated separately and as a mixture because they can be applied together for control of certain crop pests and therefore have the potential to enter surface water as a binary mixture. Acute mortality estimates (48 h) were developed followed by chronic exposure (8 days) studies where several population parameters were recorded. Acute LC50 and 95% CL for spirotetramat and Destiny were estimated to be 23.8 (14.5-35.4) and 26.71 (20.8-34.0) mg/l, respectively. Thus, spirotetramat and Destiny were equitoxic to C. dubia at LC50. For the chronic population study, C. dubia populations were exposed to a range of concentrations for spirotetramat and Destiny singly and as a mixture. Each chemical alone reduced the number of founding individuals, offspring/female, final population size, and population growth rate in a concentration-dependent manner. However, exposure to the mixture caused significantly greater reductions in these parameters than either compound alone. These results indicate that agricultural adjuvants and pesticides may cause more damage to aquatic organisms as a mixture than either product alone. Therefore, future evaluations of pesticide effects should consider the effects of adjuvants as a mixture with pesticides when these products are recommended to be applied together for pest control.