Abstract
In this paper, we review the effects of large-scale neonicotinoid contaminations in the aquatic environment on non-target aquatic invertebrate and vertebrate species. These aquatic species are the fauna widely exposed to environmental changes and chemical accumulation in bodies of water. Neonicotinoids are insecticides that target the nicotinic type acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in the central nervous systems (CNS) and are considered selective neurotoxins for insects. However, studies on their physiologic impacts and interactions with non-target species are limited. In researches dedicated to exploring physiologic and toxic outcomes of neonicotinoids, studies relating to the effects on vertebrate species represent a minority case compared to invertebrate species. For aquatic species, the known effects of neonicotinoids are described in the level of organismal, behavioral, genetic and physiologic toxicities. Toxicological studies were reported based on the environment of bodies of water, temperature, salinity and several other factors. There exists a knowledge gap on the relationship between toxicity outcomes to regulatory risk valuation. It has been a general observation among studies that neonicotinoid insecticides demonstrate significant toxicity to an extensive variety of invertebrates. Comprehensive analysis of data points to a generalization that field-realistic and laboratory exposures could result in different or non-comparable results in some cases. Aquatic invertebrates perform important roles in balancing a healthy ecosystem, thus rapid screening strategies are necessary to verify physiologic and toxicological impacts. So far, much of the studies describing field tests on non-target species are inadequate and in many cases, obsolete. Considering the current literature, this review addresses important information gaps relating to the impacts of neonicotinoids on the environment and spring forward policies, avoiding adverse biological and ecological effects on a range of non-target aquatic species which might further impair the whole of the aquatic ecological web.
Highlights
Neonicotinoids are highly water-soluble compounds, relatively stable in buffers, water or other physiological media with pH 5–7
The biochemical structure of nicotinic type acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) features an ensemble of four transmembrane domains, extracellular N-terminal interacting with ligands, and central cation channel with a cascade constructed by transmembrane domain 2 [37]
The acetylcholine binding protein (AChBP) from the snail Lymnaea stagnalis was used for this purpose since it is considered a surrogate marker of the ligand-binding domain in nAChRs for loops A–F, which are highly conserved
Summary
Pesticides are chemical materials primarily used to prevent, control, destroy, repel or alleviate pests, protect crops and avoid vector-borne diseases [1,2]. Illustrative uses of neonicotinoids in agriculture among crops such as maize, cotton, oil seed-rape, sunflower and sugarcane were demonstrated due to excellent solubility, chemical properties and selective control that assure diffusion in plants via xylem and phloem transport mechanisms [17]. The reason for their extreme movability in the soil leads to contamination of surrounding water bodies, which in turn impacts the areas on which they are applied. Studies related to neonicotinoids toxicity on these non-target aquatic species are described and elaborated
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