Effects of commercial formulations of glyphosate on marine crustaceans and implications for risk assessment under temperature changes

Abstract

Glyphosate-based formulations are the most commonly used herbicides worldwide with the risk of potential contamination of aquatic bodies. The present study assessed the response of four marine crustaceans to three different brands of herbicides Roundup®Platinum, Efesto® and Taifun® MK CL.T, under two selected temperatures of 20 °C and 30 °C. The harpacticoid copepod Tigriopus fulvus, the anostracan Artemia franciscana, the amphipod Corophium insidiosum and the isopod Sphaeroma serratum were chosen as testing organisms. Effects of herbicides and temperatures were assessed by estimating lethal concentrations. The results showed that the high temperature rises the toxicity of glyphosate with an increase of mortality of all the tested species. This is an important aspect for future risk assessments of pesticides under global climate change scenarios. Efesto® resulted the most toxic brand, showing C. insidiosum the most sensitive with 96 h-LC50 values of 3.25 mg/L acid equivalent (a.e.) at 30 °C and 7.94 mg/L a.e. at 20 °C followed by T. fulvus while A. franciscana and S. serratum were the less sensitive. This study provides important information for assessing the toxic effects of three different brands of glyphosate-based herbicides on non-target marine organisms suggesting that they should be carefully managed to minimize any negative impact on marine organisms.

Keywords

• Acute toxicity
• Marine crustaceans
• Glyphosate-based herbicides
• Temperature