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Toxicity of Chiral Pesticide Rac-Metalaxyl and R-Metalaxyl to Daphnia magna

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Abstract

Chirality in pesticides has become a challenge because of enantiomers’ different toxicities to non-target organisms. Acute and chronic toxicities of Rac-metalaxyl and R-metalaxyl to Daphnia magna were determined and compared. The 48-h LC50 for Rac- and R-metalaxyl to Daphnia magna were 51.5 and 41.9 mg/L. In a 14-day chronic test, the lowest-observed-effective concentration (LOEC) and no-observed-effective concentration (NOEC) of Rac-metalaxyl were 2 and 1 mg/L, respectively, whereas those of R-metalaxyl were 1 and 0.1 mg/L. Body length, days-to-first-brood and number of broods per female were significantly (p < 0.05) affected by R-metalaxyl at >1.0 mg/L, but affected by Rac-metalaxyl at ≥2.0 mg/L.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (2009CB421603), the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in Chinese Universities (number IRT 0653); the National Natural Science Foundations of China (number 20837002); and the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province, China (number Z506070).

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  1. School of Urban Development and Environmental Engineering, Shanghai Second Polytechnic University, Shanghai, 201209, China

    Shengwen Chen

  2. Research Center of Environmental Science, College of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310032, China

    Weiping Liu

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  1. Shengwen Chen
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  2. Weiping Liu
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Correspondence to Weiping Liu.

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Chen, S., Liu, W. Toxicity of Chiral Pesticide Rac-Metalaxyl and R-Metalaxyl to Daphnia magna . Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 81, 531–534 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-008-9567-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-008-9567-6

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