Toxicity of Chlorantraniliprole and it's Formulated Product, Altacor®, to Individuals and Populations of Ceriodaphnia Dubia Richard

The toxicity of the insecticide chlorantraniliprole and its formulated product Altacor(R) was determined for the Cladoceran, Ceriodaphnia dubia Richard. Acute toxicity (48 h) and 21 d population studies were conducted. The hypothesis of this study was that these two compounds would have different toxicities. We conducted acute and chronic toxicity studies for each compound and compared the results to test this hypothesis. 48 h LC50s (95% CL) for chlorantraniliprole and Altacor(R) were 8.5 (6.6-11.5) and 6.0 (3.7-9.0) mu g chlorantraniliprole/L water, respectively. Therefore, chlorantraniliprole and Altacor(R) were equitoxic to C. dubia at LC50 based on overlap of the 95% CL. In the population study, chlorantraniliprole and Altacor(R) concentrations equivalent to the acute LC5, 10, 25, and 50 for each product were evaluated on populations of C. dubia. Number of individuals after 21 d was the endpoint evaluated. T-tests conducted at each LC value indicated that there was no significant difference in population size between these two products at each LC value evaluated. Previous studies show that toxicity can vary greatly between formulated and technical grade pesticides. However, our results show that chlorantraniliprole and its formulated product, Altacor(R) were equally toxic to C. dubia. Therefore, making assumptions about the toxicity of formulated and unformulated products is ill advised.

Automated summary

This study determined the toxicity of the insecticide chlorantraniliprole and its formulated product Altacor(R) on Cladoceran Ceriodaphnia dubia. The results showed that both compounds had equal toxicities on C. dubia, contrary to previous studies. Therefore, assuming the toxicity of formulated and unformulated products is ill advised.