Chiral bioaccumulation behavior of tebuconazole in the zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Tebuconazole is an effective chiral fungicide, and previous studies have demonstrated that tebuconazole enantiomers exhibit enantioselective toxicity to non-target aquatic organisms. Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate the chiral bioaccumulation behavior of tebuconazole in zebrafish (Danio rerio). Two exposure concentrations (0.107 and 1.07 mg/L) of tebuconazole were used. The uptake experiments lasted for 8 days, and subsequently, the zebrafish were transferred to another clean tank containing water without tebuconazole for depuration experiments (up to 14 days). A significant trend in enantioselective bioaccumulation was observed in these zebrafish with the preferential accumulation of (-)-R-tebuconazole at two dose levels. The results of the depuration experiments indicated that the degradation of (-)-R-tebuconazole in zebrafish was slower than that of (+)-S-tebuconazole. The BCFk values for (+)-S-tebuconazole and (-)-R-tebuconazole in a low dose of this chemical were 11.22 and 16.25, respectively, while at a high dose, these values were 9.79 and 10.31, respectively. The enantiomer fraction of tebuconazole in zebrafish and water ranged from 0.31-0.49. Hence, future research should focus on the fate of tebuconazole in the aquatic environment at the enantiomer levels.