bifenthrin and tenax

Pyrethroids are a class of widely-used insecticides that can be transported from terrestrial applications to aquatic systems via runoff and tend to sorb to organic carbon in sediments. Pyrethroid occurrence is detrimental to stream ecosystems due to toxicity to sediment-dwelling invertebrates which are particularly at risk of pyrethroid exposure in urban streams. In this work, 49 streams located in watersheds in the northeastern United States were surveyed for nine current-use pyrethroids using two extraction methods. Total sediment concentrations were determined by exhaustive chemical extraction, while bioaccessible concentrations were determined by single-point Tenax extraction. Total and bioaccessible pyrethroid concentrations were detected in 76% and 67% of the sites, and the average sum of pyrethroids was 232 ng/g organic carbon (OC) for total and 43.8 ng/g OC for bioaccessible pyrethroids. Bifenthrin was the most commonly detected pyrethroid in streambed sediments. Sediment toxicity was assessed using 10-d Hyalella azteca bioassays, and 28% and 15% of sediments caused a decrease in H. azteca biomass and survival, respectively. A temperature-based focused toxicity identification evaluation was used to assess pyrethroids as the causal factor for toxicity. The concentrations of pyrethroids was only weakly correlated with the degree of urban land use. Sediment toxicity was predicted by total and bioaccessible pyrethroid concentrations expressed as toxic units. This work suggests that bioaccessibility-based methods, such as Tenax extraction, can be a valuable tool in assessing sediment toxicity.

Topics: Amphipoda; Animals; Biomass; Ecosystem; Environmental Monitoring; Geologic Sediments; Insecticides; Invertebrates; New England; Polymers; Pyrethrins; Rivers; Surveys and Questionnaires; United States; Water Pollutants, Chemical

It is well documented that using exhaustive chemical extractions is not an effective means of assessing exposure of hydrophobic organic compounds in sediments and that bioavailability-based techniques are an improvement over traditional methods. One technique that has shown special promise as a method for assessing the bioavailability of hydrophobic organic compounds in sediment is the use of Tenax-extractable concentrations. A 6-h or 24-h single-point Tenax-extractable concentration correlates to both bioaccumulation and toxicity. This method has demonstrated effectiveness for several hydrophobic organic compounds in various organisms under both field and laboratory conditions. In addition, a Tenax bioaccumulation model was developed for multiple compounds relating 24-h Tenax-extractable concentrations to oligochaete tissue concentrations exposed in both the laboratory and field. This model has demonstrated predictive capacity for additional compounds and species. Use of Tenax-extractable concentrations to estimate exposure is rapid, simple, straightforward, and relatively inexpensive, as well as accurate. Therefore, this method would be an invaluable tool if implemented in risk assessments.

Topics: Amphipoda; Animals; Biological Availability; Environmental Restoration and Remediation; Geologic Sediments; Insecticides; Models, Theoretical; Polymers; Pyrethrins; Risk Assessment; Soil Pollutants

Recent studies have determined that techniques, such as solid phase microextraction (SPME) fibers and Tenax beads, can predict bioaccumulation and potentially could predict toxicity for several compounds and species. Toxicity of bifenthrin was determined using two standard sediment toxicity tests with the benthic species Hyalella azteca and Chironomus dilutus in three reference sediments with different characteristics. The objectives of the current study were to establish bioavailability-based median lethal concentrations (LC50) and median effect concentrations (EC50) of the pyrethroid insecticide bifenthrin, compare their ability to assess toxicity to the use of whole sediment concentrations, as well as to make comparisons of the concentrations derived using each method in order to make assessments of accuracy and extrapolation potential. Four metrics were compared including SPME fiber concentration, pore water concentration derived using SPMEs, 6 h Tenax extractable concentration, and 24 h Tenax extractable concentration. The variation among the LC50s and EC50s in each sediment derived using bioavailability-based methods was comparable to variation among organic carbon normalized sediment concentrations, but improved over whole sediment concentrations. There was a significant linear relationship between SPME or Tenax and organic carbon normalized sediment concentrations. Additionally, there was a significant relationship between the SPME and Tenax concentrations across sediments. The significant linear relationship between SPME and Tenax concentrations further demonstrates that these bioavailability-based endpoints are interrelated. This study derived bioavailability-based benchmarks that may prove to be more accurate than sediment-based ones in predicting toxicity across sediment types.

Topics: Amphipoda; Animals; Chironomidae; Geologic Sediments; Insecticides; Lethal Dose 50; Polymers; Pyrethrins; Solid Phase Microextraction

Recent studies recognize the ability of chemical techniques such as solid phase microextraction (SPME) fibers and Tenax extraction to predict bioavailability more effectively than exhaustive chemical extractions for sediment-associated organic contaminants. While the majority of research using these techniques studied legacy compounds such as PCBs and PAHs, there is great potential for these methods to work well for highly toxic, rapidly biotransformed compounds such as pyrethroid insecticides. The current study compared the ability of the two techniques to predict the bioavailability of permethrin and bifenthrin to two benthic invertebrates (Lumbriculus variegatus and Hexagenia sp.). In addition, variations in the application of the two techniques, specifically duration and conditions of exposure of the SPME fibers and duration of extraction with Tenax, were explored. The SPME fiber concentrations correlated strongly to both 6 and 24 h Tenax concentrations. The SPME fiber concentrations and 6 h and 24 h Tenax extractable concentrations correlated with both the parent permethrin and bifenthrin concentrations in the tissues of both species at steady state. Parent compound tissue concentrations for both species could be predicted with a single relationship for individual pyrethroids. This demonstrated the potential value of these methods to predict the bioavailability of compounds subject to biotransformation and application to multiple species.

Topics: Animals; Biological Availability; Biotransformation; Environmental Monitoring; Insecta; Insecticides; Oligochaeta; Permethrin; Polymers; Pyrethrins; Solid Phase Microextraction; Water Pollutants, Chemical

Bifenthrin, a current-use pyrethroid insecticide, has been repeatedly identified as a major contributor to toxicity in urban and residential stream sediment. Within an urban stream multiple stressors exist. However, other than pesticides, the influence of secondary stressors on bifenthrin toxicity has not been studied. The goal of this project was to study how dissolved ions, based on the model salt KCl, influence bifenthrin toxicity. The presence of these dissolved ions could influence bifenthrin toxicity either through joint action as a secondary toxicant or through changing the partitioning or bioavailability of bifenthrin between the sediment matrix and overlying water or pore water. The first objective was to determine if mixtures of bifenthrin and KCl, a commonly utilized reference toxicant, display additive toxicity to the benthic invertebrates Hyalella azteca and Chironomus dilutus using concentration addition and independent action mathematical models. The second objective of the present study was to examine how KCl dissolved in the overlying water influences partitioning and bioavailability of a pyrethroid (bifenthrin). Joint toxicity of bifenthrin and KCl was less than predicted by both concentration addition and independent action models. However, both models predicted the joint toxicity within a factor of two. Partitioning of bifenthrin was not significantly influenced by KCl concentrations based on K(oc) determinations and desorption to Tenax beads. This indicates that the fate and bioavailability of bifenthrin are not likely different in aquatic environments with varying dissolved ion concentrations. Therefore, the toxicological interaction that results in the antagonistic joint action between bifenthrin and KCl is likely due to the physiological effects of exposure to hypertonic solutions of KCl rather than alterations to bifenthrin bioavailability.

Topics: Amphipoda; Animals; Geologic Sediments; Insecticides; Models, Theoretical; Polymers; Potassium Chloride; Pyrethrins; Water Pollutants, Chemical