Developmental assays using invasive cane toads, Rhinella marina, reveal safety concerns of a common formulation of the rice herbicide, butachlor.

ABSTRACT: Identifying the adverse impacts of pesticide exposure is essential to guide regulations that are protective of wildlife and human health. Within rice ecosystems, amphibians are valuable indicators because pesticide applications coincide with sensitive reproductive and developmental life stages. We conducted two experiments using wild cane toads (Rhinella marina) to test 1) whether environmentally relevant exposure to a commercial formulation of butachlor, an acetanilide herbicide used extensively in rice, affects amphibian development and 2) whether cane toad tadpoles are capable of acclimatizing to sub-lethal exposure. First, we exposed wild cane toads to 0.002, 0.02, or 0.2 mg/L of butachlor (Machete EC), during distinct development stages (as eggs and hatchlings, as tadpoles, or continu

SUBMITTER: Shuman-Goodier ME 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7878340 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature