Comparison of the embryonic developmental toxicity of cyfluthrin and lambda-cyhalothrin on zebrafish through the benchmark dose (BMD) method

Cyfluthrin and lambda-cyhalothrin are two typical insecticides that are widely used. In this study, zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos were used as a model and were continuously exposed to the two pesticides for 96 h. During the period, the autonomous tail flicks at 24 h post fertilization, the heart rate and hatching rate of larvae at 48 h post fertilization, and the deformity rate and mortality rate of larvae at 96 h post fertilization were measured, and such indicators were considered to evaluate the embryonic developmental toxicity of two pyrethroid insecticides. To explore the application prospect of the benchmark dose (BMD) method in evaluating the environmental risk of pesticides, the BMD method was used to calculate their sensitivity indicators. The most sensitive indicator of cyfluthrin was 48 h post-fertilization juvenile heart rate, the most sensitive indicator of lambda-cyhalothrin was 48 h post-fertilization hatching rate and the toxicity threshold of cyfluthrin was lower. In addition, most BMDL₁₀ of different developmental parameters of cyfluthrin and beta-cyhalothrin were lower than the LOAEL values. The results suggest that the BMD method can compare the differences in the toxicity of similar pesticides and fully and accurately mine the experimental data, which can provide new ideas and strategies for the environmental risk assessment of pesticides.