University of Sussex, School of Life Sciences, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QG, United Kingdom.
Chipping Norton Veterinary Hospital, Banbury Road, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire OX7 5SY, United Kingdom.
Sci Total Environ. 2021 Feb 10;755(Pt 1):143560. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143560. Epub 2020 Nov 7.
Little is known about the environmental fate or impact of pesticides used to control companion animal parasites. Using data from the Environment Agency, we examined the occurrence of fipronil, fipronil metabolites and imidacloprid in 20 English rivers from 2016 to 2018, as indicators of the potential contamination of waterways from their use as ectoparasiticides on pets. Water samples were collected by the Environment Agency as part of their chemical surveillance programme and analysed using Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry / Quadrupole-Time-of-Flight Mass spectrometry (LC/Q-TOF-MS) methods. A total of 3861 chemical analyses were examined, and the significance and potential sources of this contamination were assessed. Fipronil, fipronil sulfone, fipronil sulfide (collectively known as fiproles) and imidacloprid were detected in 98.6%, 96.5%, 68.7% and 65.9% of samples, respectively. Across the river sites sampled, the mean concentrations of fipronil (17 ng/l, range <0.3-980 ng/l), and fipronil sulfone (6.5 ng/l, range <0.2-39 ng/l) were 5.3 and 38.1 times their chronic toxicity limits of 3.2 and 0.17 ng/l, respectively. Imidacloprid had a mean concentration of 31.7 ng/l (range <1-360 ng/l), which was below its chronic toxicity limit of 35 ng/l, however seven out of 20 sites exceeded that limit. Chronic risk quotients indicate a high environmental risk to aquatic ecosystems from fiproles, and a moderate risk from imidacloprid. Sites immediately downstream of wastewater treatment works had the highest levels of fipronil and imidacloprid, supporting the hypothesis that potentially significant quantities of pesticides from veterinary flea products may be entering waterways via household drains. These findings suggest the need for a reevaluation of the environmental risks associated with the use of companion animal parasiticide products, and the risk assessments that these products undergo prior to regulatory approval.
关于用于控制伴侣动物寄生虫的农药的环境归宿或影响知之甚少。我们使用环境署的数据，从 2016 年到 2018 年，检查了 20 条英国河流中的氟虫腈、氟虫腈代谢物和吡虫啉，作为它们作为宠物外寄生虫防治剂使用对水道潜在污染的指标。水样是由环境署作为其化学监测计划的一部分收集的，并使用液相色谱-质谱/四极杆飞行时间质谱（LC/Q-TOF-MS）方法进行分析。共检查了 3861 次化学分析，评估了这种污染的意义和潜在来源。氟虫腈、氟虫腈砜、氟虫腈硫醚（统称为氟虫腈）和吡虫啉分别在 98.6%、96.5%、68.7%和 65.9%的样品中被检出。在所采样的河流地点，氟虫腈（17ng/L，范围<0.3-980ng/L）和氟虫腈砜（6.5ng/L，范围<0.2-39ng/L）的平均浓度分别是其慢性毒性限值 3.2ng/L 和 0.17ng/L 的 5.3 倍和 38.1 倍。吡虫啉的平均浓度为 31.7ng/L（范围<1-360ng/L），低于其慢性毒性限值 35ng/L，但 20 个地点中有 7 个超过了该限值。慢性风险商数表明，氟虫腈对水生生态系统存在高环境风险，而吡虫啉则存在中度风险。污水处理厂下游的地点含有最高水平的氟虫腈和吡虫啉，支持了这样一种假设，即来自兽医跳蚤产品的大量农药可能通过家庭排水进入水道。这些发现表明，有必要重新评估与使用伴侣动物寄生虫防治产品相关的环境风险，以及这些产品在获得监管批准之前所经历的风险评估。
