Acute toxicity, bioconcentration, elimination, action mode and detoxification metabolism of broflanilide in zebrafish, Danio rerio

Broflanilide, a novel meta-diamide insecticide, shows high insecticidal activity against agricultural pests and is scheduled to be launched onto the market in 2020. However, little information about its potential toxicological effects on fish has been reported. In this study, broflanilide showed low toxicity to the zebrafish, Danio rerio, with LC50 > 10 mg L-1 at 96 h and also did not inhibit GABA-induced currents of the heteromeric Dr alpha 1 beta 2S gamma 2 GABA receptor. Broflanilide showed medium bioconcentration level with a bioconcentration factor at steady state (BCFss) of 10.02 and 69.40 in D. rerio at 2.00 mg L-1 and 0.20 mg L-1, respectively. In the elimination process, the concentration of broflanilide rapidly decreased within two days and slowly dropped below the limit of quantification after ten days. In the 2.00 mg L-1 broflanilide treatment, CYP450 activity was significantly increased up to 3.11-fold during eight days. Glutathione-S- transferase (GST) activity significantly increased by 91.44 % within four days. In conclusion, the acute toxicity of broflanilide was low, but it might induce chronic toxicity, affecting metabolism. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the toxicological effects of broflanilide on an aquatic organism, which has the potential to guide the use of broflanilide in the field.