Hazard/risk assessment of pyridaben: I. Aquatic toxicity and environmental chemistry

The toxicity and environmental fate of the insecticide-miticide. pyridaben were investigated using both standardized laboratory procedures and outdoor studies with natural water. Outdoor studies provide a more realistic exposure scenario to aquatic organisms and any toxicity is a response to actual exposure concentrations resulting from the natural degradation and dissipation of the chemical. This paper describes the environmental chemistry/fate and aquatic toxicity of pyridaben. The subsequent paper describes the results of the outdoor aquatic toxicity studies and the use of the water-effect ratio in hazard/risk assessment. Environmental fate studies indicate that pyridaben has a low water solubility and high K-d and K-oc values, which favors partitioning from water onto soil and sediment. Pyridaben is stable to hydrolysis but has a short photolysis half-life in water (<30 min) and soil (similar to 11 d). Furthermore, pyridaben has a short half-life in soil(12 to 14 d) when applied in the field to citrus crops. Laboratory studies with constant 48- to 96-h exposures to pyridaben show it is acutely toxic to fish (Lepomis macrochirus, Pimephales promelas, Oncorhynchus mykiss, Cyprinodon variegatus) and invertebrates (Daphnia magna, Mysidopsis bahia). Invertebrates are more sensitive (lower LC50s) than fish to pyridaben, and most mortalities occur < 24 h for fish and < 72 h for invertebrates. Chronic laboratory studies indicate that the MATCs for pyridaben and D. magna, M. bahia and P. promelas were 0.12, 0.15 and 0.39 mu g/L, respectively. Acute-to-chronic ratios for pyridaben are low for fish and invertebrates, indicating a low potential for residual activity. Chronic toxicity to aquatic organisms is not an issue after application in the field because exposures tend to be brief.