Ecotoxicity of the chlorantraniliprole insecticide on Ceriodaphnia dubia

Studies on the toxic effects of pesticides to aquatic organisms are necessary to establish safe concentrations of exposure, promoting the protection of aquatic life. The insecticide chlorantraniliprole has been used since 2007 in several crops of vegetables and fruits, but despite its wide and continuous use, little ecotoxicological information is reported in the literature. Then, the objective of this work is to evaluate the ecotoxicological aspects of this insecticide in the test organism Ceriodaphnia dubia through toxicity tests, aiming at determining the values of NOEC (no observed effect concentration), LOEC values (lowest observed effect concentration), CV (chronic value) and EC(I)50, 48 h (acute effect concentration). The results indicated that C. dubia showed greater sensitivity when compared to other organismal groups exposed to the same insecticide, with EC(I)50, 48 h values of 2.9 ± 1.11 µg.L-1, NOEC of 0.61 ± 0.33 µg.L-1 and LOEC of 0.91 ± 0.49 µg.L-1. Based on toxicity tests with C. dubia and considering the protection of aquatic life, a safe environmental concentration of 0.74 µg. L-1 of the insecticide chlorantraniliprole is recommended.