Bioavailability and Bioaccumulation
of Pyrethroid Insecticides in Wildlife
and Humans
Ò. Aznar-Alemany and E. Eljarrat
Contents
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
2 Bioavailability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
3 Bioaccumulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
3.1 Aquatic Organisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
3.2 Terrestrial Organisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
3.3 Humans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
3.4 Isomer-Specific Accumulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
4 Maternal Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
5 Final Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Abstract Despite the initial assumption that pyrethroid insecticides are “ideal”
because they do not bioaccumulate and because they are able to be metabolized
by mammals, recent studies have showed the opposite. Based on desorption kinetics
from sediment, cyfluthrin has been reported as the most bioavailable compound,
while λ-cyhalothrin was the less bioavailable. Bioaccumulation has been
reported for several species. Franciscana dolphins from Brazil showed pyrethroid
levels of 7.04–68.4 ng/g lw. A trend of levels connected to the age of dolphins
was observed. Striped dolphins from the Spanish Mediterranean had a mean
total concentration of 300 Æ 932 ng/g lw. Pyrethroid levels in wild Iberian river
fish were 12–4,940 ng/g lw. Pyrethroid profiles possibly reflected the local use
of pesticides, and interspecies profile variation for fish was reported. While
bioavailability of pyrethroids seemed considerably lower than that of POPs,
concentrations of pyrethroids in striped dolphins and Iberian fish were comparable
or higher than those of some POPs such as flame retardants. Mean total pyrethroid
levels in unhatched eggs from wild birds collected in Spain were 1.93–162 ng/g lw,
Ò. Aznar-Alemany and E. Eljarrat (*)
Department of Environmental Chemistry, IDAEA-CSIC, Barcelona, Spain
e-mail: eeeqam@cid.csic.es
Ethel Eljarrat (ed.), Pyrethroid Insecticides,
Hdb Env Chem (2020) 92: 205–226, DOI 10.1007/698_2020_466,
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020, Published online: 8 March 2020
205
of Pyrethroid Insecticides in Wildlife
and Humans
Ò. Aznar-Alemany and E. Eljarrat
Contents
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
2 Bioavailability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
3 Bioaccumulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
3.1 Aquatic Organisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
3.2 Terrestrial Organisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
3.3 Humans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
3.4 Isomer-Specific Accumulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
4 Maternal Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
5 Final Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Abstract Despite the initial assumption that pyrethroid insecticides are “ideal”
because they do not bioaccumulate and because they are able to be metabolized
by mammals, recent studies have showed the opposite. Based on desorption kinetics
from sediment, cyfluthrin has been reported as the most bioavailable compound,
while λ-cyhalothrin was the less bioavailable. Bioaccumulation has been
reported for several species. Franciscana dolphins from Brazil showed pyrethroid
levels of 7.04–68.4 ng/g lw. A trend of levels connected to the age of dolphins
was observed. Striped dolphins from the Spanish Mediterranean had a mean
total concentration of 300 Æ 932 ng/g lw. Pyrethroid levels in wild Iberian river
fish were 12–4,940 ng/g lw. Pyrethroid profiles possibly reflected the local use
of pesticides, and interspecies profile variation for fish was reported. While
bioavailability of pyrethroids seemed considerably lower than that of POPs,
concentrations of pyrethroids in striped dolphins and Iberian fish were comparable
or higher than those of some POPs such as flame retardants. Mean total pyrethroid
levels in unhatched eggs from wild birds collected in Spain were 1.93–162 ng/g lw,
Ò. Aznar-Alemany and E. Eljarrat (*)
Department of Environmental Chemistry, IDAEA-CSIC, Barcelona, Spain
e-mail: eeeqam@cid.csic.es
Ethel Eljarrat (ed.), Pyrethroid Insecticides,
Hdb Env Chem (2020) 92: 205–226, DOI 10.1007/698_2020_466,
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020, Published online: 8 March 2020
205