Acute Toxicity and Lethal Body Burden of Endosulfan in Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus (L))

Abstract

Acute (96-hr) semi-static tests with endosulfan were conducted with Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) by determining LC50 values and their 95 confidence interval end points for 24,48,72 and 96 hr exposure. The LC50 (96-hr) was found to be 10.20μg/L. The behavioral toxicity syndromes corresponded to effects of chemicals that act by specific mode of neurotoxin action. The lethal body burden/Critical body residue (LBB) in Tilapia was found to be 4.6 ng/g fish and 0.096 μg/g lipid. The LBB values were found to be dependent on time of exposure and concentration. The LBB values found in tilapia may probably not pose a serious health risk, to humans who may consume fish dying from endosulfan poisoning as they are within the range of the tolerable daily intake (TDI) level of endosulfan. The estimated bioconcentration factor for endosulfan in tilapia was calculated to be 187.