engleski

Acute toxicity of 10 pesticides to earthworm Eisenia andrei and their effects on the efflux pump activity

The usage of pesticides has been steadily increasing over the last decades and besides affecting the target organisms, they can also have adverse effects on different non -target organisms. However, the effects on these non- target organisms are still often unknown and need to be assessed in order to estimate the potential risks of pesticide use. Earthworms play an important role in soil ecosystems due to their positive impacts on the soil functioning and represent good model organisms in soil ecotoxicology. Therefore, in the present study the acute toxicity of ten pesticides to the earthworm Eisenia andrei was assessed. Additionally, effects of pesticides on the efflux pump activity were also measured. The exposures were conducted using the filter paper contact toxicity method and based on the 48h LC50 values one pesticide was classified as supertoxic (fungicide), five as extremely toxic (two herbicides and three fungicides), two as very toxic (herbicides) and two as moderately toxic (insecticide and fungicide). Regarding the efflux pump activity, six pesticides showed significant effects with a recorded inhibition of the activity. An inhibition of the efflux pump activity can lead to a higher toxicity due to longer retention of the pesticides in the cells. This study shows that earthworms could be significantly affected by pesticides commonly used in agriculture.

earthworms, pesticides, acute toxicity, efflux pump

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