Fate and behaviour of neonicotinoids in Australian aquatic environments

Neonicotinoids are a group of systemic insecticides, heavily used in applications across agricultural and domestic settings. As moderate to highly water-soluble compounds, neonicotinoids often end up in aquatic environments where they pose a risk to aquatic non-target organisms. In Australia, little is known about the occurrence and behaviour of neonicotinoids in aquatic environments, therefore their risk is not well understood. The overall aim of this project is to assess the occurrence and risk of neonicotinoids in Australian aquatic environments. This is achieved by the derivation of ecotoxicity thresholds for neonicotinoids for consideration by the ANZG water quality guidelines; an investigation of the degradation of neonicotinoids and identification of their transformation products and pathways; and the analysis of water samples from a variety of aquatic environments around Australia including surface waters from rivers, creeks and wetlands, and wastewater effluent and influent using both passive and grab sampling techniques. This presentation will summarise the major results from these studies to provide an assessment of the risk of neonicotinoids to the Australian aquatic environment.

Please note this is a Student PhD Progress review presentation by Carly Beggs.