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Effects of a 28-day early life stage exposure to carbaryl on fathead minnow long-term growth and reproduction
Citation:
Flynn, K., S. Kadlec, V. Kurker, AND M. Etterson. Effects of a 28-day early life stage exposure to carbaryl on fathead minnow long-term growth and reproduction. AQUATIC TOXICOLOGY. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, 242:106018, (2022). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquatox.2021.106018
Impact/Purpose:
The research was conducted to explore the relationship between short, transient exposures and long-term outcomes in fish, focusing on growth and how it may affect reproduction. The connections made between short-lived reductions in growth and future size and reproductive potential will add realism to a Fish Translator Model under development at GLTED. Relatively short exposure to larval fathead minnows and even shorter periods of observed effects on growth resulted in permanent impacts on growth which seem to lead to reduced reproduction several months after exposure had ended. These effects could result population-relevant impacts that would be difficult to predict from common study designs.
Description:
The US Environmental Protection Agency conducts ecological risk assessments with a battery of fish toxicity tests that include acute, early life stage, and reproduction tests. While endpoints in these tests (survival, growth and reproduction) are conceptually related, because they are measured in separate exposures, the quantitative relationships between them are difficult to determine and largely ignored. In the current test, fathead minnows (FHM) were exposed for 28 days to 1 mg/L or 2 mg/L carbaryl, a well-studied carbamate insecticide, in early life stages and then reared in clean water until adulthood, when reproduction was assessed. Also. weekly growth measurements were taken throughout the test to determine growth rates during and after exposure. Growth curves derived from these measurements were then compared to the reproductive output. The data indicate that carbaryl reduced growth rate only for a brief time early in the exposure. However, this brief effect impacted overall growth into adulthood and lowered the reproductive output of exposed FHM. The effect of a transient exposure early in life to carbaryl could have later population-level impacts by causing mortality, lowering growth rates, and reducing reproductive output.
URLs/Downloads:
DOI: Effects of a 28-day early life stage exposure to carbaryl on fathead minnow long-term growth and reproduction
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34814091/