Abstract
Information regarding the safety and environmental risks of pesticides intended for urban use remains limited. This study aimed to assess the effects of four common pesticides on the microalga Raphidocelis subcapitata: DIAZINON® 25% C. E., Roundup®, URBACIN® 20C. E., and VAPODEL® 20% C. E., which are commercial formulations of diazinon, glyphosate, dichlorvos, and cypermethrin, respectively. According to 96-h inhibition of population growth bioassays, the four pesticide toxicities exemplified the following order: DIAZINON® (diazinon) > Roundup® (glyphosate) > VAPODEL® (dichlorvos) > URBACIN® (cypermethrin). Increasing pesticide concentrations elicited alterations in the specific growth rates (µmax). The macromolecule contents and photosynthetic pigments increased in groups exposed to the highest concentrations of DIAZINON® 25%, Roundup®, and URBACIN® 20 compared to the control group, despite these treatments inducing lower population growth rates. VAPODEL® 20% induced higher growth rates and lower macromolecule content compared to the control. Since active ingredients were not quantified, certain comparisons may prove limiting, but it is important to assess the effects of the whole mixtures in the form that they enter the environment, especially for urban-intended applications or generic formulations with higher additive contents. Finally, this study demonstrated that commercial pesticide formulations designed for urban applications might pose a threat to freshwater microalgae due to their underestimated toxic potential, but further studies are required.
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The authors declare that all data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article and its supplementary information files. Raw data are available from the corresponding author upon request.
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Acknowledgements
ALCH is grateful for the postdoctoral scholarship received from the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología and thanks the Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes for providing support and facilities for conducting the present work. MAAC (CVU 205163) thanks the program Investigadores por México-CONACYT. All authors thank the Sistema Nacional de Investigadores (SNI).
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. ALCH: conceptualization; methodology; formal analysis; investigation; writing original draft. RCVG: investigation; formal analysis. FMJ: supervision, critical review of the final manuscript. MAAC: resources, writing, review and editing; supervision; funding acquisition
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This work was supported by the Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes. ALCH received a postdoctoral fellowship from CONACYT.
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Carbajal-Hernández, A.L., Arzate-Cárdenas, M.A., Valerio-García, R.C. et al. Commercial pesticides for urban applications induced population growth and sub-cellular alterations in Raphidocelis subcapitata (Chlorophyceae) at concerning environmental concentrations. Ecotoxicology 31, 1462–1476 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-022-02596-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-022-02596-6