Table Of ContentToxicity
o f
Pesticides
to
Fish
Volun1e I
Author
A. S. Murty
Department of Zoology
Nagarjuna University
N agarjunanagar, India
Boca Raton London New York
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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Murty, A. S., 1943—
Toxicity of pesticides to fish.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Fishes—Effect of water pollution on.
2. Pesticides—Toxicology. I. Title.
SH174.M87 1986 597’ .024 85-4182
ISBN 0-8493-6058-7 (v. 1)
ISBN 0-8493-6059-5 (v. 2)
A Library of Congress record exists under LC control number: 85004182
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Dedicated
to my Parents and Mentors
especially Profs. K. Hanumantha Rao and K. V. Jagannadha Rao
FOREWORD
Ever since the increased use of synthetic pesticides during the past 40 years, it has
become apparent that these highly toxic materials did not only affect target organisms
but often harmed nontarget organisms like fish and other aquatic life. Some of these
adverse effects were so subtle that they were not recognized until analytical and biolog-
ical testing methods had been refined to discover heretofore unrecognized deleterious
effects on fish. More recently, the attention of fish biologists has been turned towards
nonpesticidal industrial pollutants, like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins,
which in the past were often mistaken for DDT and related pesticides.
Although there are a number of books and reviews on the subject of pesticide tox-
icity on fish, the present treatise by Dr. A. S. Murty is the most comprehensive work
on this subject. Dr. Murty, who has carried out basic research on the effect of pesti-
cides on fish in his native land of India and Germany, has gathered the work of over
1800 papers published world-wide and critically placed them in the context of 12 chap-
ters. This thorough coverage of the world literature attests to the fact that no part of
the globe is too remote to obtain the current scientific literature on a particular tech-
nical subject, as for example the toxicity of pesticides to fish. This present work is a
detailed treatment of the environmental fate of pesticides and their acute and chronic
toxicological effect on fish. A shorter chapter on PCBs and related compounds en-
hances the coverage of the book. An interesting treatment on insecticide resistance in
fish and the combined action of different pesticides, to the best of my knowledge, have
not been discussed as thoroughly as in this book.
The fluent style and the comprehensive coverage of this book make it not only a
pleasure to read but also a "must" on the shelf or desk of concerned scientists all over
the world.
Gunter Zweig, Ph.D.
Washington, D.C.
March, 1985
PREFACE
The increasing awareness of the environmental problems during the last 2 decades
kindled much interest on the environmental fate and behavior of the xenobiotic chem-
icals. This is evident from the fact that during the last 16 years or so, about 20 inter-
national journals have been launched to focus attention on environmental problems.
Environmental disasters like the collapse of the coho salmon fishery in Lake Michigan
and the mass mortality of fish elsewhere clearly established the toxicity of pesticides to
fish and other aquatic organisms. Further, the realization that the aquatic environment
is the ultimate sink for all pollutants stimulated studies on the toxicity of man-made
chemicals to the aquatic organisms, especially pesticide toxicity to fish. Much of the
information on the toxicity of pesticides to fish, however, lay scattered in diverse jour-
nals or in generalized summaries on the effect of pollutants on fish. The present work
is the first major attempt at reviewing comprehensively all the available information
on this fascinating subject.
I have attempted to trace the growth of this subject from the earliest toxicity tests
that I could record, dating back to 1944, to the present day. In about 4 decades, the
toxicity testing itself has undergone a conceptual change. In the early days, simple toxic
effects with death as the end point were studied. At present the focus has shifted to
hazard assessment and prediction to avert the environmental disasters caused by DDT-
type compounds.
In dealing with the toxicity of pesticides to fish, one may feel that perhaps a discus-
sion on polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other industrial organic chemicals is out
of place. Although such chemicals have rarely been, if ever, used in combination with
pesticides, their environmental behavior and uptake by fish are akin to those of the
organochlorine pesticides. Hence, the similarity between the two groups of compounds
is briefly pointed out and the methods of their separation are discussed.
This book is the result of the constant encouragement I received from Dr. Gunter
Zweig of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C. To him, I
owe a deep debt of gratitude. I also thank him for readily agreeing to write the Fore-
word for this book.
The many discussions I had with the fellow scientists, during my tenure of work as
a visiting scientist of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada,
during 1980 to 1981 and as a Fellow of the Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation of
West Germany during 1981 to 1983 helped me in planning and completing this work.
Especially IDRC had funded my visit to a number of laboratories. I thank both these
agencies for affording me an opportunity to meet my fellow scientists. I also thank my
parent University for granting me leave to go abroad and work.
Mr. J. R. W. Miles and Dr. S. Seth una than read critically Chapter I, Volume I. Drs.
Richard Addison and J. L. Hamelink commented upon Chapter 3, Volume I, and Dr.
D. Desaiah, upon the part dealing with ATPase-inhibition studies in Chapter 6, Vol-
ume II. I am obliged to them for their comments and suggestions. I would like to thank
Drs. D. V. Subba Rao, S. Pitchumani, Bhuwanesh Agrawal, and U. Schiecke, Ms.
Seetha Murty, and the librarian of the Columbia National Fisheries Research Labora-
tory, Columbia, Missouri, for their help with the necessary reprints. I also wish to
acknowledge the help extended by Messers K. Kondaiah, K. Krishna Prasad, M. V.
Krishnaiah, and K. R. S. Sambasiva Rao, in the preparation, finalization, and typing
of the manuscript. The excellent editorial help of the staff of CRC Press is also ac-
knowledged.
The sources of the figures and tables have been mentioned at the appropriate place.
Besides, I would like to acknowledge Drs. R. D. Wauchope, J. L. Hamelink, G. D.
Veith, H. C. Alexander, W. B. Neely, and C. J. Schmitt for the original photographs
of their graphs.
I am also indebted to my colleagues Dr. Y. Ranga Reddy and Prof. S. Krishna
Sarma, who cheerfully read through the entire manuscript and commented upon style
and syntax. The faults, if any, are mine.
This work would not have been possible but for the involvement of my wife,
Ramani, who supervised the different stages of the preparation and typing of the draft,
and patiently corrected the proofs. Lastly, it is indeed a pleasure to acknowledge the
help of our children, Usha, Sudha, and Aditya in classifying the literature and organ-
izing the references.
A. S. Murty
THE AUTHOR
Dr. Ayyagari S. Murty, Reader in Zoology at Nagarjuna University, Nagarjunana-
gar, India is an environmental toxicologist interested in the toxicity of xenobiotic
chemicals to nontarget organisms. He received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Zoology from
Andhra University, India. As a teacher for postgraduate students for more than 20
years, Dr. Murty has taught diverse subjects ranging from systematic zoology to envi-
ronmental biology.
Dr. Murty is presently engaged in research on environmental hazard evaluation of
chemicals and also on the toxicity of pesticides and industrial organic chemicals to
nontarget organisms, especially fish. During 1980 and 1981, he was one of the 18 sci-
entists selected from the third-world countries in a world-wide competition by the In-
ternational Development Research Centre and worked as a visiting scientist at London
(Ontario) research station of Agriculture Canada. From 1981 to 1983, he worked as a
Fellow of the Humboldt Foundation of West Germany, mostly at the Institute for
Water, Soil, and Air Health of the Federal Health Office, West Berlin.
Dr. Murty presented several papers at national and international conferences. He is
frequently invited to lecture at workshops and seminars on environmental toxicology.
He published over 40 research papers and his work has brought to light certain lacunae
in aquatic toxicity testing protocols with hydrophobic compounds.
TOXICITY OF PESTICIDES TO FISH
A. S. Murty
Volume I
Pesticides in the Environment
Pesticide Residues in Fish
Uptake and Depuration of Pesticide Residues by Fish
Toxicity Tests and Test Methodology
Appendix I
Appendix II
Volume II
Toxicity of Individual Compounds, Safe Concentrations, and Toxicity to Different
Age Groups
Influence of Environmental Conditions on the Toxicity of Pesticides to Fish
Toxicity of Formulations, Isomers, and Degradation Products
Joint Action of Pesticide Mixtures
Insecticide Resistance in Fish
Sublethal Effects of Pesticides in Fish
Polychlorinated Biphenyls and Related Compounds
Environmental Hazard Evaluation and Prediction
Appendix I
Appendix II
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Volume I
Chapter 1
Pesticides in the Environment ...................................................................... 1
I. Introduction .................................................................................... 1
A. History of Pesticide Use ............................................................ 1
B. Adverse Effects of Pesticides ..................................................... 2
C. Other Sources of Pesticide Residues ............................................. 4
II. Persistence of Pesticides in the Soils and Long-Range Transport in the
Environment ................................................................................... 5
A. Persistence of Pesticide Residues in the Soil.. ................................. 5
B. Long-Range Transport of the Pesticides in the Environment ............. 7
1. Loss during Application ................................................... 7
2. Loss due to Volatilization ................................................. 7
3. Pesticide Residues in the Atmosphere .................................. 9
4. Pesticide Residues in Rainwater and Snow .......................... 10
III. Transport of Pesticide Residues to the Aquatic Environment.. ................... 11
A. Nonpoint Sources ................................................................... 11
1. Agricultural Lands ........................................................ 11
a. Mobility of Pesticide Residues in the Soil. .................. 12
b. Adsorption ......................................................... 13
c. Runoff Losses ..................................................... 14
2. Urbanland Source ......................................................... 15
3. Sewage ........................................................................ 15
4. Used Pesticide Containers ............................................... 16
B. Point Sources ........................................................................ 17
1. Sheep Dips ................................................................... 17
2. Effluents from Pesticide Formulating Plants ....................... 17
3. Accidental Spillages ....................................................... 17
C. Identification of the Source and Other Considerations .................... 18
IV. Pesticide Residues in the Aquatic Environment ...................................... 19
A. Residue Levels in the Aquatic Environment. ................................. 19
1. Concentration of Residues in the Surface Microlayers ............ 19
2. Pesticide Residue Levels in Water ..................................... 20
3. Residue Levels in the Sediments ........................................ 21
a. Adsorption-Desorption Studies on Residues in the
Sediments ........................................................... 23
B. Persistence and Degradation of Pesticide Residues in the Aquatic
Environment ......................................................................... 24
1. Persistence ................................................................... 24
2. Degradation ................................................................. 26
V. Conclusions ................................................................................... 27
References .............................................................................................. 28
Chapter 2
Pesticide Residues in Fish ........................................................................... 37
I. Introduction ................................................................................... 37
II. Analytical Methodology .................................................................... 37
A. Transport of Samples to the Laboratory ...................................... 37
B. Analysis ............................................................................... 38
