Anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs) are widely used pesticides to control rodent populations. Bromadiolone, a second generation anticoagulant rodenticide (SGARs), is authorized in France to control the population of water voles (Arvicola scherman). The persistence of SGARs in rodents is responsible for secondary exposure or poisoning of predators and scavengers, and is of ecological concern for the conservation of endangered species. Commercial formulations are a mixture of two diastereoisomers of bromadiolone: 70-90% is trans-bromadiolone and 10-30% is cis-bromadiolone. Both diastereoisomers have been shown to inhibit coagulation function with the same potency. On the other hand, cis-bromadiolone has been shown to be less tissue-persistent than transbromadiolone in rats. This difference led to residue levels in rats with substantially weakened proportion in cis-bromadiolone compared to the composition of baits. In this study, a multi-residue LC-MS/MS method for the quantification of the diastereoisomers of SGARs was used to investigate their proportions in field samples of predators. In 2011, 28 red kites (Milvus milvus) were found dead within a few months of bromadiolone application in grassland to control water vole outbreaks. In this study, we report the concentrations of the two diastereoisomers of bromadiolone measured in the livers of thirteen red kites. Exposure to bromadiolone was apparent in all the kites with hepatic concentrations of trans-bromadiolone ranging from 390 to 870 ng/g (89 to 99% of summed SGARs). However, cisbromadiolone was not detected in 5 of 13 red kites and was present at very low concentrations (below 2.2ng/g) in 8 of 13 kites, demonstrating that cis-bromadiolone is not involved in this red kite poisoning event.The results suggest that a change of the proportions of bromadiolone diastereoisomers in baits could reduce the risk of secondary poisoning of predators, but retain primary toxicity for control rodent outbreaks.Response to Reviewers: May 31, 2017 Dear Daniel A. Wunderlin Thank you for your remarks on our manuscript entitled « Cis-bromadiolone diastereoisomer is not involved in bromadiolone Red Kite (Milvus milvus) poisoning» by Fourel et al. We carefully re-revised the manuscript to address the reviewers' concerns. Specific responses to each question are given below.
Reviewers/Editor comments:Reviewer #2: This is a re-review of a paper that I reviewed previously. The manuscript that has been resubmitted is much improved and I believe the authors have satisfactorily addressed or rebutted the reviewers' comments. The paper presents important novel data on how isomer composition may alter the risk of secondary poisoning from SGARs.Although the grammar and language are much improved on the original ms, there is still some improvement that is necessary. I have split my comments on this into two parts on the attached pdf, the first that covers small scale questions re meaning where language has been ambiguous to some extent and needs clarification, the second are simply sug...