Increased toxicity to Ceriodaphnia dubia in mixtures of atrazine and diazinon at environmentally realistic concentrations

The acute toxicity of diazinon in combination with atrazine concentrations of 5, 10, 20, and 40 mug/L was evaluated using Ceriodaphnia dubia. Atrazine concentrations as low as 5 mug/L in combination with diazinon significantly increased toxicity to C dubia compared to diazinon alone. Atrazine and diazinon residues within water samples collected from 65 subbasins throughout Denton, Texas, USA were used to assess the environmental relevance of pesticide concentrations. A geographical information system was used to examine the relationship between subbasin land uses and pesticide concentrations. Significant correlations were observed between in situ atrazine and diazinon concentrations and some subbasin land uses. Atrazine was significantly (P < 0.05) correlated to diazinon during some months. Of the 276 samples collected, 39% exceeded our experimentally derived diazinon LC50 value, and 39% exceeded our minimum atrazine concentration of 5.0 mug/L. Results indicate the potential for increased toxicity from mixtures of compounds at environmentally realistic concentrations. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.