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Influence of short-time imidacloprid and acetamiprid application on soil microbial metabolic activity and enzymatic activity

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Abstract

The influence of two neonicotinoids, i.e., imidacloprid (IMI) and acetamiprid (ACE), on soil microbial activities was investigated in a short period of time using a combination of the microcalorimetric approach and enzyme tests. Thermodynamic parameters such as Q T (J g−1 soil), ∆H met (kJ mol−1), J Q/S (J g−1 h−1), k (h−1), and soil enzymatic activities, dehydrogenase, phosphomonoesterase, arginine deaminase, and urease, were used to evaluate whole metabolic activity changes and acute toxicity following IMI and ACE treatment. Various profiles of thermogenic curves reflect different soil microbial activities. The microbial growth rate constant k, total heat evolution Q T (expect for IMI), and inhibitory ratio I show linear relationship with the doses of IMI and ACE. Q T for IMI increases at 0.0–20 μg g−1 and then decreases at 20–80 μg g−1, possibly attributing to the presence of tolerant microorganisms. The 50 % inhibitory ratios (IC50) of IMI and ACE are 95.7 and 77.2 μg g−1, respectively. ACE displays slightly higher toxicity than IMI. Plots of k and Q T against microbial biomass-C indicate that the k and Q T are growth yield-dependent. IMI and ACE show 29.6; 40.4 and 23.0; and 23.3, 21.7, and 30.5 % inhibition of dehydrogenase, phosphomonoesterase, and urease activity, respectively. By contrast, the arginine deaminase activity is enhanced by 15.2 and 13.2 % with IMI and ACE, respectively. The parametric indices selected give a quantitative dose-response relationship of both insecticides and indicate that ACE is more toxic than IMI due to their difference in molecular structures.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported in part by grants from the International Joint Key Project from Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (2010DFB23160), International Joint Key Project from National Natural Science Foundation of China (40920134003), National Natural Science Foundation of China (41103060, 41273092), National Outstanding Youth Research Foundation of China (40925010), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (FRF-TP-12-005A).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, and National International Cooperation Based on Environment and Energy, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 30 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100083, China

    Fei Wang, Jun Yao, Huilun Chen & Zhengji Yi

  2. State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, and Sino-Hungarian Joint Laboratory of Environmental Science and Health, University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Jun Yao

  3. Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong Baptist University, 224 Waterloo Road, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, SAR, China

    Martin M. F. Choi

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  1. Fei Wang
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  2. Jun Yao
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  3. Huilun Chen
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  4. Zhengji Yi
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Correspondence to Jun Yao or Martin M. F. Choi.

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Responsible editor: Zhihong Xu

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Wang, F., Yao, J., Chen, H. et al. Influence of short-time imidacloprid and acetamiprid application on soil microbial metabolic activity and enzymatic activity. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21, 10129–10138 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-2991-8

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