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Lethal and sublethal responses in the fish, Odontesthes bonariensis, exposed to chlorpyrifos alone or under mixtures with endosulfán and lambda-cyhalothrin

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Abstract

Need for ecotoxicological information on local species has been recently highlighted as a priority issue in Latin America. In addition, little information has been found on concentration distances between lethal and sublethal effects, and the effect of mixtures at these two levels of analysis. Chlorpyrifos (CPF) is an organophosphate insecticide broadly used in soybean crops which has dramatically expanded in Latin America and other regions of the world. The aim of the present study was to evaluate lethal and sublethal effects of CPF, singly or in mixtures, on the inland “Pejerrey” (Odontesthes bonariensis) under laboratory conditions. Bioassays were performed using 15–30 d post hatch Pejerrey larvae. Six toxicity tests were run for estimating the average inter-assay dose–response curve of CPF and other six for assessing the effects of mixtures of CPF with endosulfan (EN) or lambda-cyhalothrin (LC), at three toxic units (TU) proportions (25:75, 50:50, 75:25). In addition, four assays were performed to describe the average inter-assay dose–response inhibition curve of acetylcholinesterase (AchE) for CPF alone and two for assessing the mixtures. The estimated 96 h-LC50 for CPF was 2.26 ± 1.11 µg/L and the incipiency value was 0.048 ± 0.012 µg/L, placing this Neotropical species among the 13% of worldwide fish more sensitive to CPF. In addition, the 96 h-LC50 for EN and LC were 0.30 ± 0.012 µg/L and 0.043 ± 0.031 µg/L, respectively. Therefore, relative toxicity of the three soybean insecticides for O. bonariensis was LC > EN > CPF. Effects of mixtures with EN and LC were variable, but in general fitted to both, independent action (IA) and concentration addition (CA) models. Slight antagonism was found when CPF TU proportions were above 50%. Therefore, from the regulatory point of view, the use of both mixture models, CA or IA, would be precautionary. Differential sensitivity to CPF was found for AchE inhibition at the head (96 h-IC50 = 0.065 ± 0.058 µg/L) and the body (96 h-IC50 = 0.48 ± 0.17 µg/L). In addition, whereas no significant effects induced by mixtures was observed in body AchE activity, antagonism was induced in head AchE inhibition in presence of both, EN and LC in the mixture. The lethal to sublethal ratio was close to 25.2 and 3.4 when comparing the CPF-LC50 and IC50s for head and body AchE activity, respectively. However, considerable overlapping was observed between concentration–response curves, indicating that the use of AchE as biomarker for environmental monitoring would be limited.

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Acknowledgements

This study was granted by the CONICET (PIP2014-2016-0090) and ANPCyT (PICT2014-1690). Experimental fish were kindly provided by the Aquaculture Station “Estación Hidrobiológica de Chascomús” of the Provincial Direction of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture Affairs of the Buenos Aires Province. We wish to specially thank to Gustavo Emilio Berasain y Claudia Marcela Velasco, for the help with the fish larvae managing, and also to Dr. Damián Marino and Diego Cristos for the advice and help with the chemical analysis.

Funding

This study was granted by the CONICET (PIP2014-2016-0090) and ANPCyT (PICT2014-1690).

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  1. These authors contributed equally: Viviana López Aca and Patricia Verónica Gonzalez.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigaciones del Medio Ambiente, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad Nacional de la Plata – CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Viviana López Aca, Patricia Verónica Gonzalez & Pedro Carriquiriborde

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  1. Viviana López Aca
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  2. Patricia Verónica Gonzalez
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  3. Pedro Carriquiriborde
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Correspondence to Pedro Carriquiriborde.

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All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. Protocols for animal handing and testing were approved by the Animal Welfare Committee of the Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, UNLP. In addition, this article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.

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López Aca, V., Gonzalez, P.V. & Carriquiriborde, P. Lethal and sublethal responses in the fish, Odontesthes bonariensis, exposed to chlorpyrifos alone or under mixtures with endosulfán and lambda-cyhalothrin. Ecotoxicology 27, 968–979 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-018-1941-5

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