We exposed Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) to environmentally relevant concentrations of azinphos-methyl, chlorothalonil, endosulfan, and mixtures of all three to determine if combinations of these pesticides result in additive, less-than-additive, or more-than-additive effects. Medaka were exposed from fertilization until 7 days posthatching, and end points included survival, time to hatch, size at 7 days posthatching, activity level (as measured by distance swam) and foraging ability at 3 weeks posthatching, and adult size, liver size, and sex ratio at 5 months posthatching. Although exposure to individual pesticides or pesticide mixtures did not affect survival, hatching time, or foraging ability, fry exposed to azinphos-methyl were significantly smaller at 1 week of age, and those exposed to chlorothalonil and a combination of the chemicals showed reduced activity. Adult sex ratios were biased toward females in all groups exposed to pesticides, with those exposed to azinphos-methyl, chlorothalonil, and the pesticide mixture departing significantly from an even sex ratio. There was no evidence of additive or synergistic effects of pesticide mixtures.
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