Acute Toxicity of Diphacinone in Northern Bobwhite Effects On
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Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 73 (2010) 1159–1164 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ecoenv Acute toxicity of diphacinone in Northern bobwhite: Effects on survival and blood clotting Barnett A. Rattner a,n, Katherine E. Horak b, Sarah E. Warner a, John J. Johnston b a Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior, 10300 Baltimore Avenue, BARC East-308, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA b National Wildlife Research Center, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Ft. Collins, CO 80521, USA article info abstract Article history: The anticoagulant rodenticide diphacinone was slightly toxic (acute oral LD50 2014 mg/kg) to Northern Received 24 March 2010 bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) in a 14-day acute toxicity trial. Precise and sensitive assays of blood Received in revised form clotting (prothrombin time, Russell’s Viper venom time, and thrombin clotting time) were adapted for 28 May 2010 use in quail, and this combination of assays is recommended to measure the effects of anticoagulant Accepted 30 May 2010 rodenticides. A single oral sublethal dose of diphacinone (434 mg/kg body weight) prolonged clotting Available online 30 June 2010 time at 48 h post-dose compared to controls. At 783 mg/kg (approximate LD02), clotting time was Keywords: prolonged at both 24 and 48 h post-dose. Prolongation of in vitro clotting time reflects impaired Anticoagulant coagulation complex activity, and was detected before overt signs of toxicity were apparent at the Birds greatest dosages (2868 and 3666 mg/kg) in the acute toxicity trial. These clotting time assays and Clotting time toxicity data will assist in the development of a pharmacodynamic model to predict toxicity, and also Diphacinone Fibrinogen facilitate rodenticide hazard and risk assessments in avian species. Non-target effects Published by Elsevier Inc. Prothrombin time Russell’s Viper venom time Secondary poisoning Thrombin clotting time 1. Introduction including the United States, United Kingdom, France, Canada, Malaysia and New Zealand (e.g., Albert et al., 2009; Eason and Public concern over poisoning of non-target wildlife began in Spurr, 1995; Howald et al., 1999; Lambert et al., 2007; Stone et al., the early 20th century when strychnine and thallium used for 1999, 2003; Walker et al., 2008). For example, in New York State rodent and predator control were observed to be affecting species there were at least 51 confirmed cases of death by hemorrhage like quail and song birds (Peterle, 1991). In the 1930s, Link with detection of rodenticides in tissues of wildlife between 1971 investigated the hemorrhagic effects of improperly cured sweet and 1997, with over half of the incidents involving birds of prey clover (Melilotus spp.) in domestic livestock, and eventually (e.g., great horned owl, Bubo virginianus; red-tailed hawk, Buteo isolated 3,3’-methylene-bis(4-hydroxycoumarin) (i.e., dicumarol) jamaicensis)(Stone et al., 1999). Based on these findings, an (Pelfrene, 1991). This discovery ultimately led to the synthesis of anticoagulant surveillance program was implemented between over 100 analogs, including warfarin that was eventually used as a 1998 and 2001 for routine avian submissions to the New York rodenticide. The mechanism of action of warfarin, and other State Wildlife Pathology Unit. Remarkably, 49% of 265 raptors had anticoagulant rodenticides, involves inhibition of synthesis of detectable quantities of anticoagulants in liver tissue, and anti- functional vitamin K-dependent factors including prothrombin. coagulants were considered the cause of death in nearly 15% of Several current use anticoagulant rodenticides pose hazard to these cases (Stone et al., 2003). On a global scale, the magnitude of ground feeding birds by direct ingestion of bait (primary the hazard of rodenticides to birds is not well-characterized poisoning) and to predatory and scavenging birds by consumption because the effect of sublethal exposure on long-term survival of poisoned rodents or exposed invertebrate prey (secondary and fitness is unknown, and most lethal poisoning events are poisoning). Non-target exposure and effects of anticoagulant probably unnoticed or not reported. rodenticides in wildlife have been documented in many countries, In 2002, the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) completed a risk assessment that identified several rodenticides that posed a significant risk to birds and non-target mammals n Corresponding author. Fax: +1 301 497 5624. (Erickson and Urban, 2004). Subsequently, the US EPA (2008) E-mail address: [email protected] (B.A. Rattner). released its final ecological risk mitigation decision that placed 0147-6513/$ - see front matter Published by Elsevier Inc. doi:10.1016/j.ecoenv.2010.05.021 1160 B.A. Rattner et al. / Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 73 (2010) 1159–1164 An acute oral toxicity study was conducted in bobwhite (weight range: 149–224 g) gavaged with technical grade diphacinone (99% active ingredient; Hacco, Inc. Randolph, WI) suspended in pure vegetable oil (soybean oil cholesterol-free; Criscos, Orrville, OH). The selection of doses was somewhat problematic as existing data suggested that the slope of the dose–response curve was steep, and doses were too widely separated to permit estimation of a reliable median lethal dose (Campbell et al., 1991; US EPA, 1998). Accordingly, the study was conducted over a six week period using analytically determined diphacinone doses that were selected through an iterative process (917, 965, 1033, 2065, 2868 and 3666 mg/kg body weight; n¼9À10 bobwhite/dose; approximately equal distribution of sexes/dose). Because of low solubility, diphacinone was administered as slurry in vegetable oil (heaviest bird in a dose group received 1 ml and the remaining birds received a fractional volume related to their weight, 0.76–0.99 ml). Some target doses could only be achieved by repeatedly adminis- tering a divided dose over a 24-h period (target exposure of 1033 and 2065 mg/kg: 2 doses/day; target exposure of 2868 mg/kg: 3 dose/day and target exposure of 3666 mg/kg: 4 doses/day). Moderate volumes of the vehicle were also adminis- tered 1–3 times to controls (n¼9) during a 24-h period. Birds were observed twice daily for signs of toxicity over a 14-day period. Based upon the results of this acute toxicity trial, a second study was conducted in which bobwhite (weight range: 178–241 g) were gavaged with either vegetable oil (control n¼6), or with analytically determined doses of diphacinone at 434 mg/kg (n¼16) or 783 mg/kg (n¼16). At 6, 12, 24 and 48 h Fig. 1. Blood coagulation pathway in birds (adapted from Gentry, 1993 and post-dose, each bird was euthanized with carbon dioxide and immediately bled by Thomson et al., 2002; F¼Factor, PL¼phospholipid). cardiac puncture. Controls were sacrificed and bled at 48 h post-dose. Blood samples (0.5 ml) were collected into syringes containing 50 ml 0.5 M EDTA, a suitable alternative to sodium citrate (Cero´ n et al., 2008). Blood samples were some restrictions on the sale, distribution and packaging centrifuged, plasma harvested and frozen at À80 1C, and subsequently shipped to of several second generation rodenticides (i.e., brodifacoum, the PWRC for analysis. difethialone, bromadiolone and difenacoum) that have greater toxicity and are more persistent in tissues than first generation 2.2. Analytical determination of diphacinone in dosing solutions rodenticides. This action will likely be offset by expanded use of other anticoagulant rodenticides, including diphacinone (classi- For determination of diphacinone concentration in dosing solutions, 100 mlof fied as a first or intermediate generation compound). Unfortu- the slurry was weighed and dissolved in 10 ml of 1:1 acetone:chloroform, and nately, the hazard posed by diphacinone to non-target organisms 10 ml was diluted to 10 ml with 5 mM tetrabutylammonium phosphate in 12 mM phosphate buffer (pH 8.5) and methanol (40:60 ratio). The sample was placed in is inadequately characterized. Median lethal dosages, sublethal an ultrasonic bath for 5 min, filtered through a 0.45 mm teflon syringe filter into an responses and tissue concentrations are being generated in both amber vial, and analyzed by reverse phase ion-paired high-performance liquid traditional wildlife test species (e.g., Northern bobwhite, Colinus chromatography with concentrations determined by comparison to a calibration virginianus) and in birds of prey that are occasionally used in standard (Primus et al., 1996). The method detection limit was 4 ng/ml and the precision (mean coefficient of variation7standard deviation) for triplicate toxicity tests (e.g., American kestrels, Falco sparverius and Eastern determinations was 3.371.5% (n¼3). screech owls, Megascops asio)(Rattner et al., 2010). Various measurement endpoints are being used to develop a physiolog- 2.3. Clotting assays ically based pharmacokinetic model (PBPK) that will facilitate estimation of diphacinone burdens and risk to avian species. One One-stage prothrombin time, Russell’s Viper venom time, and thrombin endpoint critical to this effort is the measurement of blood clotting time were measured in plasma samples using a thermostatically clotting time. The effects of anticoagulant rodenticides on controlled BBL fibrometer (Becton Dickson & Co., Baltimore, MD) (Miale, 1965). hemostasis are better characterized in mammals than in birds. Upon addition