Toxicity of chlorpyrifos and TCP alone and in combination to Daphnia carinata: The influence of microbial degradation in natural water

Abstract

The acute toxicity of chlorpyrifos and its principal metabolite 3,5,6-trichloropyridinol (TCP) alone and in combination to a cladoceran, Daphnia carinata, was studied in both cladoceran culture medium and natural water collected from a local suburban stream. TCP was found to be more toxic than its parent chemical chlorpyrifos to Daphnia survival in cladoceran culture medium. However, TCP in natural water was not toxic to D. carinata up to 2 μg L −1. The LC 50 values for chlorpyrifos, TCP and chlorpyrifos+TCP were 0.24, 0.20 and 0.08 μg L −1, respectively, in cladoceran culture medium. Although the parent chemicals and their degradation products co-exist in natural waters, the existing guidelines for water quality are based on individual chemicals. The results of this investigation suggest that chlorpyrifos and TCP can interact synergistically, additively or antagonistically, resulting in an increase or decrease in the overall toxicity of the mixture compared to individual compounds. The indigenous microorganisms in natural water could play a significant role in degradation of these compounds thereby influencing their toxicity in receiving waters. This study clearly suggests that the joint action of pesticides and their degradation products should be considered in the development of water quality guidelines. To our knowledge, this is the first study on the interactive effect of chlorpyrifos and TCP to a cladoceran and suggests that these two compounds are non-toxic when present together at concentrations up to 0.12 μg L −1. However, these compounds together act additively at and above 0.5 μg L −1 to fresh water invertebrates and therefore pollution with these compounds may adversely affect natural ecosystems.