Ecotoxicological evaluation of fungicides used in viticulture in non-target organisms

The effect of fungicides, commonly used in vine cultures, on the health of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems has been poorly studied. The objective of this study was to evaluate the toxicity of three viticulture fungicides (myclobutanil, cymoxanil, and azoxystrobin) on non-target organisms, the bacteria Rhodopirellula rubra, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas putida, and Arthrobacter sp., the microalgae Raphidocelis subcapitata, and the macrophyte Lemna minor. Fungicide toxicity was performed in acute cell viability assay for bacteria; 72-h and 7-day growth inhibition tests for R. subcapitata and L. minor, respectively. Contents of photosynthetic pigments and lipid peroxidation in L. minor were evaluated. Arthrobacter sp. and P. putida showed resistance to these fungicides. Even though azoxystrobin affected R. rubra and E. coli cell viability, this effect was due to the solvent used, acetone. Cell viability decrease was obtained for R. rubra exposed to cymoxanil and E. coli exposed to myclobutanil (30 min of exposure at 10 mg/L and 240 min of exposure at 46 mg/L, respectively). R. subcapitata showed about 10-fold higher sensitivity to azoxystrobin (EC_50-72h = 0.25 mg/L) and cymoxanil (EC_50-72h = 0.36 mg/L) than L. minor to azoxystrobin and myclobutanil (EC_50-72h = 1.53 mg/L and EC_50-72h = 1.89 mg/L, respectively). No lipid peroxidation was observed in L. minor after fungicide exposure, while changes of total chlorophyll were induced by azoxystrobin and myclobutanil. Our results showed that non-target aquatic organisms of different trophic levels are affected by fungicides used in viticulture.