Journal
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
Volume 153, Issue 2, Pages 450-456Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2007.08.007
Keywords
fungicide; insecticide; risk assessment; artificial soil; natural soil
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Little research has been performed on the impact of pesticides on earthworms under tropical conditions. Taking into consideration the often-limited resources in tropical countries, simple screening tests are needed. Therefore, it was investigated whether three pesticides relevant for the Brazilian Amazon (benomyl, carbendazim, lambda-cyhalothrin) affect the avoidance behavior of the earthworm Eisenia fetida. The tests were performed for two days according to ISO guideline 17512 but were adapted to tropical conditions (i.e. test substrate, test organism and temperature). The results indicate that this test gives reproducible and reliable results. Toxicity values (NOEC, EC50) are lower than those determined in 14 day-acute mortality tests and are approximately in the same range such as those found in 56 day-chronic reproduction tests with the same earthworm species, which were performed in parallel. Therefore, the use of the earthworm avoidance tests is recommended as a screening tool for the risk assessment of pesticides. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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