Evaluating mosquito control pesticides for effect on target and nontarget organisms

Recent requirements for biomonitoring of urban stormwater runoff have raised the issue of toxic contributions from mosquito control products. A comparison of seven pesticides for their toxicity to target and nontarget organisms was conducted in field and laboratory trials to determine relative impacts in and around Craighead County, Arkansas. Twenty-four and forty-eight-hour acute toxicity tests using Ceriodaphnia dubia, Daphnia magna, Daphnia pulex, and Pimephales promelas were employed with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) suggested procedures as standard test organisms. Additional tests with resident mosquito fish, Gambusia affinis, and mosquito larvae, Anopheles quadrimaculatus, included ditch-receiving waters to compare the somewhat sterile laboratory exposures to actual field conditions. Exposure to as much as 31.4 microg/L of the pesticides Dursban(R), malathion, Permanone(R), Abate(R), Scourge(R), B.t.i, and Biomist(R) were required for effective control of An. quadrimaculatus, whereas as little as 2.7 microg/L resulted in substantial mortality of some nontarget organisms. These data suggest that prevailing application rates for effective mosquito control not only affect nontarget organisms but may also confound stormwater and nonpoint toxicity evaluations that utilize sensitive indicator species.