Time-Dependent Toxicity of Neonicotinoids and Other Toxicants:Implications for a New Approach to Risk Assessment

Tennekes, Henk; Sánchez‐Bayo, Francisco

doi:10.4172/2161-0525.s4-001

Cited by 45 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…S4), which, in addition to their entirely different mode of action, selectivity, plant systemicity, persistence, and resulting delayed effects (Jeschke and Nauen 2008;Tennekes and Sanchez-Bayo 2011;Sanchez-Bayo 2014), hinders a thorough assessment of their acute risks for EU surface waters. However, numerous recent studies reporting the substantial ecological effects of neonicotinoids in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems (e.g., van Dijk et al 2013;Hallmann et al 2014;Chagnon et al 2015;Goulson 2013) strongly indicate that further research is needed on the ecological consequences of neonicotinoid use.…”

Section: Risk Assessment For Pesticide Groups and Insecticide Classesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pesticide authorization in the EU—environment unprotected?

Stehle

Schulz

2015

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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Pesticides constitute an integral part of high-intensity European agriculture. Prior to their authorization, a highly elaborated environmental risk assessment is mandatory according to EU pesticide legislation, i.e., Regulation (EC) No. 1107/2009. However, no field data-based evaluation of the risk assessment outcome, i.e., the regulatory acceptable concentrations (RACs), and therefore of the overall protectiveness of EU pesticide regulations exists. We conducted here a comprehensive meta-analysis using peer-reviewed literature on agricultural insecticide concentrations in EU surface waters and evaluated associated risks using the RACs derived from official European pesticide registration documents. As a result, 44.7 % of the 1566 cases of measured insecticide concentrations (MICs) in EU surface waters exceeded their respective RACs. It follows that current EU pesticide regulations do not protect the aquatic environment and that insecticides threaten aquatic biodiversity. RAC exceedances were significantly higher for insecticides authorized using conservative tier-I RACs and for more recently developed insecticide classes, i.e., pyrethroids. In addition, we identified higher risks, e.g., for smaller surface waters that are specifically considered in the regulatory risk assessment schemes. We illustrate the shortcomings of the EU regulatory risk assessment using two case studies that contextualize the respective risk assessment outcomes to field exposure. Overall, our meta-analysis challenges the field relevance and protectiveness of the regulatory environmental risk assessment conducted for pesticide authorization in the EU and indicates that critical revisions of related pesticide regulations and effective mitigation measures are urgently needed to substantially reduce the environmental risks arising from agricultural insecticide use.

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Section: Risk Assessment For Pesticide Groups and Insecticide Classesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pesticide authorization in the EU—environment unprotected?

Stehle

Schulz

2015

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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“…death), such effects are time cumulative and long lasting [40]. Examples of such chemicals are the neonicotinoid insecticides [44], which impair cognition by blocking nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the central nervous system of insects and other arthropods. The implications of this time-cumulative toxicity for risk assessment will be dealt with in the section on first-tier assessment below.…”

Section: Toxicity Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Risk Assessment of Agrochemicals — A Critical Appraisal of Current Approaches

Sánchez‐Bayo¹,

Tennekes²

2015

Toxicity and Hazard of Agrochemicals

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This chapter provides insights into the difficulties and challenges of performing risk evaluations of agrochemicals. It is a critical review of the current methodologies used in ecological risk assessment of these chemicals, not their risks to humans. After an introduction to the topic, the current framework for ecological risk assessment is outlined. Two types of assessments are typically carried out depending on the purpose: i) regulatory assessments for registration of a chemical product; and ii) ecological assessments, for the protection of both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, which are usually site-specific. Although the general framework is well established, the methodologies used in each of the steps of the assessment are fraught with a number of shortcomings. Notwithstanding the subjectivity implicit in the evaluation of risks, there is scepticism in scientific circles about the appropriateness of the current methodologies because, after so many years of evaluations, we are still incapable of foreseeing the negative consequences that some agrochemicals have in the environment. A critical appraisal of such methodologies is imperative if we are to improve the current assessment process and fix the problems we face today. The chapter reviews first the toxicity assessment methods, pointing to the gaps in knowledge about this essential part of the process and suggesting avenues for further improvement. Deficiencies in the current regulations regarding toxicity testing are discussed, in particular the effect of the time factor on toxicity and the issue of complex mixtures.

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“…In order to be able to predict the effects of toxicants and to determine safe levels of concentrations of neonicotinoids and other toxicants for organisms, exposure time should be taken into account [24]. As traditional approaches consider toxic effects at fixed exposure times, a new approach to risk assessment is needed in which the time-dependency of the toxicity is included, because lowering the concentrations only means an increase in the time to effect, which is only limited by the natural lifespan of the (unexposed) organism [24]–[26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macro-Invertebrate Decline in Surface Water Polluted with Imidacloprid

2013

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Imidacloprid is one of the most widely used insecticides in the world. Its concentration in surface water exceeds the water quality norms in many parts of the Netherlands. Several studies have demonstrated harmful effects of this neonicotinoid to a wide range of non-target species. Therefore we expected that surface water pollution with imidacloprid would negatively impact aquatic ecosystems. Availability of extensive monitoring data on the abundance of aquatic macro-invertebrate species, and on imidacloprid concentrations in surface water in the Netherlands enabled us to test this hypothesis. Our regression analysis showed a significant negative relationship (P<0.001) between macro-invertebrate abundance and imidacloprid concentration for all species pooled. A significant negative relationship was also found for the orders Amphipoda, Basommatophora, Diptera, Ephemeroptera and Isopoda, and for several species separately. The order Odonata had a negative relationship very close to the significance threshold of 0.05 (P = 0.051). However, in accordance with previous research, a positive relationship was found for the order Actinedida. We used the monitoring field data to test whether the existing three water quality norms for imidacloprid in the Netherlands are protective in real conditions. Our data show that macrofauna abundance drops sharply between 13 and 67 ng l−1. For aquatic ecosystem protection, two of the norms are not protective at all while the strictest norm of 13 ng l−1 (MTR) seems somewhat protective. In addition to the existing experimental evidence on the negative effects of imidacloprid on invertebrate life, our study, based on data from large-scale field monitoring during multiple years, shows that serious concern about the far-reaching consequences of the abundant use of imidacloprid for aquatic ecosystems is justified.

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Time-Dependent Toxicity of Neonicotinoids and Other Toxicants:Implications for a New Approach to Risk Assessment

Cited by 45 publications

References 61 publications

Pesticide authorization in the EU—environment unprotected?

Pesticide authorization in the EU—environment unprotected?

Environmental Risk Assessment of Agrochemicals — A Critical Appraisal of Current Approaches

Macro-Invertebrate Decline in Surface Water Polluted with Imidacloprid

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