Effects of subchronic fungicide exposure on the energy processing of Gammarus fossarum (Crustacea; Amphipoda).
Current aquatic environmental risk assessment of plant protection products or biocides does not consider effects on organisms involved in leaf litter breakdown, a fundamental ecosystem process in streams. Therefore, direct ecotoxicological implications of tebuconazole, a frequently used triazole fungicide, on the leaf-shredding amphipod Gammarus fossarum, were assessed. While acute toxicity was low (96h-LC(50)=1347 μg/L), feeding rate, a sublethal endpoint, was significantly reduced after seven days of exposure to 600 μg/L. At the same concentration, but during a three week exposure under semi-static conditions, gammarids showed significant reductions in feeding, but also in assimilation and growth. At 200 μg/L, however, only assimilation was significantly affected. As these endpoints can be used to evaluate the ecotoxicity of a broad range of chemicals and to deduce possible implications in the functioning of ecosystems, the inclusion of similar experimental set-ups might further improve aquatic environmental risk assessment.
Zubrod
Jochen P
JP
Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Koblenz-Landau, Fortstrasse 7, D-76829 Landau, Germany. zubrod@uni-landau.de
Bundschuh
Mirco
M
Schulz
Ralf
R
D033304:Amphipoda / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development; D000818:Animals; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000187:drug effects*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005659:Fungicides, Industrial / Q000633:toxicity*; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D013997:Time Factors; D023382:Toxicity Tests, Acute; D014230:Triazoles / Q000633:toxicity; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity*
D005659:Fungicides, Industrial; D014230:Triazoles; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C087114:tebuconazole