[en] Highlights: • Four aquatic invertebrates were exposed to a pulse of imidacloprid or thiamethoxam. • Two insect species were immobilized after exposure to 9 μg L⁻¹ imidacloprid. • Exposure to thiamethoxam had no adverse effects. • Immobilized organisms recovered after placement into clean water. • No long-term effects observed relative to negative control. Neonicotinoid insecticides used in agriculture can enter freshwater environments in pulses; that is, a short-term period of a higher concentration, followed by a period of a comparatively lower concentration. Non-target aquatic arthropods are exposed to these fluctuating concentrations of neonicotinoids. The present study investigated the potential latent effects of a single environmentally-relevant 24-h pulse of imidacloprid and thiamethoxam, in separate experiments, on the early life-stages of four aquatic arthropods (Hyalella azteca, Chironomus dilutus, Hexagenia spp., and Neocloeon triangulifer). At least three nominal pulse concentrations were tested for each neonicotinoid-species combination: 2.5, 5, and 10 μg L⁻¹, which were based on environmental monitoring in Ontario, Canada. After exposure to the pulse, organisms were assessed for survival and immobilization. Surviving organisms were then moved into clean water for a chronic post-treatment period, where endpoints including survival, growth, reproduction or emergence, depending on the species, were evaluated. Immediately after the 24-h pulse, immobilization was seen in C. dilutus and N. triangulifer in the highest imidacloprid concentrations tested (8.8 and 8.9 μg L⁻¹, respectively). After transfer to clean water, immobilized organisms recovered, and no latent toxicity was seen for any of the evaluated endpoints. H. azteca and Hexagenia spp. showed no effects immediately after the imidacloprid pulse, or after the chronic post-treatment period. No effects were seen in any species after the thiamethoxam pulse, or the post-treatment period. The present study shows that toxic effects due to short-term pulse exposures of ~9 μg L⁻¹ imidacloprid can occur in sensitive insect species. However, organisms can recover when the stressor ceases, with no long-term effects on test organisms.

[en] The impact of a mixture of oxytetracycline, chlortetracycline, tetracycline and doxycycline on Myriophyllum sibiricum and Lemna gibba was investigated using fifteen 12,000-L microcosms (k = 5, n = 3). Significant concentration-response relationships were only found for M. sibiricum, where dry mass was 69, 47, 30, and 7% of controls at respective treatment concentrations of 0.080, 0.218, 0.668, and 2.289 μmol/L. Somatic endpoints were strongly and negatively correlated with percent light transmission, except plant length, which was positively correlated. Treated microcosms experienced a reduction in the percent of surface irradiance penetrating the water column as high as 99.8% at a depth of 70 cm, relative to controls. Position relative to the water column was likely responsible for the differential effects observed between floating (L. gibba) and submerged (M. sibiricum) species of macrophytes. A hazard quotient assessment of the lowest EC₁₀ value indicated significant risk, exceeding the critical HQ value, but not the lowest EC₂₅ value. - Mixtures of tetracycline antibiotics pose a risk to submerged but not floating aquatic plants

[en] Tylosin is a macrolide antibiotic commonly used for therapeutic treatment and prophylaxis in livestock. As part of a larger ecotoxicological study, the potential phytotoxic effects of tylosin on the rooted macrophyte Myriophyllum spicatum and the floating macrophyte Lemna gibba were assessed under semi-field conditions using 15 12000-L microcosms. Concentrations of 0, 10, 30, 300 μg/L (n = 3), and 600, 1000, and 3000 μg/L (n = 1) were evaluated as part of separate ANOVA and regression analyses over an exposure period of 35 days. Fate of tylosin was monitored over time in the highest three treatments, where dissipation followed pseudo-first order kinetics with associated half-lives ranging from 9 to 10 days. For both M. spicatum and L. gibba, tylosin was found to cause no biologically significant changes to any endpoint assessed compared to controls at a Type I error rate of 0.1. However, subsequent power analyses revealed that there was generally insufficient power to declare that there were no significant differences at a Type II error rate of 0.2. Conclusions concerning biologically significant impacts were therefore further assessed based on other statistical criteria including comparisons of percent differences between replicated treatments and controls, minimum significant and minimum detectable differences, and coefficients of variation. Based on these criteria, at an ecological effect size of >20% change, tylosin was concluded to elicit no biologically or ecologically significant toxicity to M. spicatum or L. gibba. A hazard quotient assessment indicated that tylosin poses little risk to either species of macrophyte, with an HQ value calculated to be nearly three orders of magnitude below 1 (0.002). - Tylosin is not expected to have ecologically significant effects on Ontario freshwater macrophytes