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Route of exposure influences pesticide body burden and the hepatic metabolome in post-metamorphic leopard frogs
Citation:
Glinski, D., R. Van Meter, Tom Purucker, AND Matt Henderson. Route of exposure influences pesticide body burden and the hepatic metabolome in post-metamorphic leopard frogs. SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT. Elsevier BV, AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, 779:146358, (2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146358
Impact/Purpose:
The decline of amphibian populations is well documented, and a primary causative factor is the continued and increased use of pesticides across the globe. Most available studies focus on the acute effects of pesticide exposure on larval amphibians with limited data on juvenile and post-metamorphic parameters and even fewer data in adult frogs. In the current study, terrestrial phase amphibians were used to determine pesticide uptake parameters from exposure in contaminated water or on contaminated soil and if these routes of exposure would result in higher body burden concentrations. In addition, attempts were aimed at ascertaining which media would elicit a greater impact on the hepatic metabolome. Exposure studies incorporate both dermal absorption scenarios and biomarker elucidation. We conclude that even during short periods of aquatic exposure during breeding season, pesticide uptake and associated changes in the amphibians’ metabolome are more extreme compared to potential terrestrial exposures.
Description:
Pesticides are being applied at a greater extent than in the past. Once pesticides enter the ecosystem, many environmental factors can influence their residence time. These interactions can result in processes such as translocation, environmental degradation, and metabolic activation facilitating exposure to target and non-target species. Most anurans start off their life cycle in aquatic environments and then transition into terrestrial habitats. Their time in the aquatic environment is generally short; however, many important developmental stages occur during this tenure. Post-metamorphosis, most species spend many years on land but migrate back to the aquatic environment for breeding. Due to the importance of both the aquatic and terrestrial environments to the life stages of amphibians, we investigated how the route of exposure (i.e., uptake from contaminated soils vs. uptake from contaminated surface water) influences pesticide bioavailability and body burden for four pesticides (bifenthrin (BIF), chlorpyrifos (CPF), glyphosate (GLY), and trifloxystrobin (TFS)) as well as the impact on the hepatic metabolome of adult leopard frogs (Gosner stage 46 with 60–90 days post-metamorphosis). Body burden concentrations for amphibians exposed in water were significantly higher (ANOVA p < 0.0001) compared to amphibians exposed to contaminated soil across all pesticides studied. Out of 80 metabolites that were putatively identified, the majority expressed a higher abundance in amphibians that were exposed in pesticide contaminated water compared to soil. Ultimately, this research will help fill regulatory data gaps, aid in the creation of more accurate amphibian dermal uptake models and inform continued ecological risk assessment efforts.
URLs/Downloads:
DOI: Route of exposure influences pesticide body burden and the hepatic metabolome in post-metamorphic leopard frogs
PubMed Central Link to Manuscript