effects of agro-chemicals on the physiological stress on teleost fish

294 Pages·2013·12.15 MB·English

by  Dr. Ayaz Rangrez

EFFECTS OF AGRO-CHEMICALS ON THE
PHYSIOLOGICAL STRESS ON TELEOST FISH

BHAVIKA N. DESAI

DIVISION OF ECOTOXICOLOGY
DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY, FACULTY OF SCIENCE
THE MAHARAJA SYAJIRAO UNIVERSITY OF BARODA
VADODARA

PH.D. THESIS MARCH, 2013
The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda
DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY
FACULTY OF SCIENCE
VADODARA 390 002, INDIA

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the thesis “EFFECTS OF AGRO-CHEMICALS ON THE
PHYSIOLOGICAL STRESS ON TELEOST FISH” incorporate the results of investigation
carried out by the candidate herself in the Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, The
Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara.

Candidate Guiding Teacher

(Bhavika Desai) Dr. Pragna Parikh
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO
THE MAHARAJA SAYAJIRAO UNIVERSITY OF BARODA
VADODARA
FOR THE PARTIAL FULLFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
IN
ZOOLOGY
CONTENTS
Page No.
Acknowledgement i – ii

List of Abbreviations iii - iv

Introduction 1 – 22

Chapters

I. Behavioural responses to acute exposure of Imidacloprid and Curzate on 23 – 41
Oeochromis mossambicus (peters, 1852)and Labeo rohita (Hamilton,
1822)

II. Haemogram of freshwater fish Tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) and 42 – 57
Rohu (Labeo rohita) exposed to repeated doses of Imidacloprid and
Curzate

III. Biochemical alterations on exposure of Imidacloprid and Curzate on 58 – 104
fresh water fish oreochromis mossambicus and Labeo rohita.

IV. Effects of agro-chemicals on antioxidant enzymes and lipid peroxidation 105 – 135
in Oreochromis mossambicus and Labeo rohita

V. Condition factor, organo-somatic indices and histoarchitecture of liver, 136 – 160
spleen and gonads of freshwater teleosts on exposure to Imidacloprid and
Curzate

VI. Histological changes in the tissues of Oreochromis mossambicus and 161 – 174
Labeo rohita on exposure to IMI and CZ

General Consideration 175 – 192

Bibliography 193 – 286
Acknowledgement

The completion of this thesis would not have been possible without the help of many people.
I take this opportunity to acknowledge them for their contribution in my thesis.
At this very moment of accomplishment, I pay earnest homage to my guide, Dr. Pragna
Hitesh Parikh, Associate Professor, Department of Zoology, from the very bottom of my
heart. Her faith in me and continuous showering of encouragement she offered have been
catalyst in every leap I made for my Ph.D. Her enduring enthusiasm for research and
distinguished guidance kept me buoyant and stimulating during difficult times in my Ph.D.
pursuit. My words and thoughts fall short whenever I try to describe those always
astonishing ideas and discussion she offered during tenure of Ph.D. Despite of her ill health,
she worked late hours for series of days to review my thesis. I am very thankful to her for
helping to secure financial support for my Ph.D. Her unflinching courage and conviction will
always inspire me. She has been more than mentor and nothing less than my parents. Beyond
this research, I must say that she has been quite well in nurturing emotional bonding with me.
Nonetheless, I appreciate those serious co-operation and parental care offered on many
occasions by Mr. Hitesh Parikh, sparing his holidays for my thesis work. I am also thankful
to Mr. Yashesh Parikh for creating light atmosphere in the stressing times of my thesis
compilation.
I appreciate those handy ideas and insightful advice from Dr. B. Suresh for my research
work. His pragmatic thinking transformed my approach towards difficulties coming across in
my research. I am equally grateful to Dr. Dolly Kumar for her warmth and support.
I am thankful to Head, Department of Zoology for providing me facilities to conduct my
research work. I am very thankful to all my teachers in Department of zoology for their
valuable help. I am also grateful to Non teaching staff for their timely help in various
situations. I am also thankful to my research colleagues for their help during the experimental
tenure of my thesis.
I would be doing injustice to myself, if I forget to convey my gratitude to my senior, Dr.
Ayaz Rangrez. He always stood by me like my elder brother. He has been highly transparent
in sharing knowledge as well equally vocal in discussion throughout the tenure of my work.
My friend and a close lab mate Miss Shalaka Sadekarpawar, deserves special thanks for her
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immense support since the day she joined. It was her positive attitude and comforting nature
made the work exciting for all of us. There is not a single part of my thesis which does not
involve her help and support. Saying few words of thanks are not enough to describe her
contribution in my work. I am also thankful to Mr. Ankur Upadhayay, for his cool attitude
and patience and helping me in the referencing. They have been like family members since
ever I have known them. I am thankful to God for providing me a research team in the form
of a family, where my guide nourished me like mother, and my fellow mates were like my
brothers and sister, helping me day in and out. I am also thankful to Miss Khushali Pandya
for being the part of the team and helping me during the final compilation of the thesis.
My endeavours without the love and support from my parents & siblings are beyond my
imagination. My parents have always strived for providing us the education best in its class. I
thank them for letting me pursue my interest, even when it seemed incomprehensible. I feel
very proud to mention that my parents are very simple and they taught me how to lead a
simple life. I would simply say, “Mummy, Pappa you are unique in this world!”. Words
cannot express how grateful I am to my mother-in law, father-in-law for their love, care and
endless prayer helping me to sustain so far. I would also like to thank to my beloved husband,
who has always been my pillar, my joy and my guiding light.
Last but not the least I would like to acknowledge and thank my loving and caring
grandparents. It is their support that made possible for me to migrate to Vadodara City and
achieve this huge and challenging task of Ph. D. I strongly believe that their prayers played a
very important role in my life. They are the most important people in my world and I dedicate
this thesis to them.
I thank them all and the others who genuinely offered their support. I appreciate those to
whom I might have missed here in spite of their contribution in accomplishment of my Ph.D.
Last but not the least, I am thankful to The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda,
Vadodara, for providing financial support in the form of University Scholarship.

Bhavika Desai

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ALP Alakaline phosphatase

ALT Alanine transaminase

APHA American Public Health Association

ANOVA Analysis of Variance

APVMA Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority

AST Aspartate transaminase

CAT Catalase

CCME Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment

CSE Center for Science and Environment

CSI Cardiosomatic Index

CZ Curzate M8

DDE Dichlorodiphenyl- DIchloroethylene

EBDC Ethylenebisdithiocarbamate

EDC Endocrine disrupting chemicals

EDTA Ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid

EPA Environmental Protection Agency

ERA Environmental Risk Assessment

ETU Ethylenethiourea

FAO Food and Agriculture of the United Nations

FRAC Food Research and Action Centre

GDH Glutamate Dehydrogenase

GPx Glutathione Peroxidase

GR Glutathione Reductase

GSH Reduced Glutathione

GSI Gonado-Somatic Index

Hb Haemoglobin

HCA Hypothalamic chromaffin axis

Hct Haematocrit

HSI Hepato-Somatic Index

HPI Hypothalamic pituitary internal

IMI Imidacloprod

LC Lethal concentrations

LCL Lower Confidential limits

LDH Lactate dehydrogenase

LPO Lipid Peroxidase

MCH Mean Corpuscular Haemoglobin
MCHC Mean Cell Haemoglobin Concentration

MCV Mean Corpuscular Volume

MDA Malondialdehyde

mg/L Milligram per liter

mmole Milli mole

µg/L Microgram per liter

µmole Microgram mole

MMC Melamacrophage Center

MSDS Material Sheet Datasheet Sheet
MT Metallothioneiness
Na+/K+ ATPase Sodium-Potassium Adenine tryphosphate
NIH National Institute of Health
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NOEL NO Observable Effect Level
NRCC National Research Council Committee
OBF Opercular beat frequency
OSI Organo-Somatic Index
PAH Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons
PAN Pesticide Action Network
PCBs Polchlorinated Biphenyls
PCV Packed Cell Volume
PMRA Pest Management Regulatory Agency
PPB Parts per billion
PPM Parts per million
RBC Red Blood Corpuscles
ROS Reactive Oxygen Species
SOD Superoxide dismutase
SSI Spleno-Somatic Index
TBA Thiobarbituric acid
TBARS Thiobarbituric acid Reactive Substance
TBF Tail beat frequency
TU Toxic Units
UCL Upper Confidential limits
US United States
VSI Viscerosomatic Index
WBC White Blood Corpuscles
WHO World Health Oraganization

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Introduction
___________________________________________________________________________

INTRODUCTION

“Life originated in water, is thriving in water, water being its solvent and medium. It is the
matrix of life.” a quote from Szent-Gyorgyi (1958) clearly illustrates that: The unique
physical and chemical properties of water have allowed life to evolve in it. Earth is known as
the water planet in our Solar system and water is the absolute requirement of life. Its
distribution, quantity, availability, and quality are the controls for the development of
agriculture, industry, rural, urban, and municipal use. As a consequence study of water
pollution is noteworthy as it influences living or biological systems either directly or
indirectly.
There are several definitions of water pollution. In a report by the National Research Council
Committee on pollution quoted by Warren (1971), water pollution was defined as “an
undesirable change in the physiological, chemical, or biological characteristics of water that
may or will harmfully affect human life or that of other desirable species, industrial
processes, living conditions, and cultural assets, that may or will waste or deteriorate raw
material resources”. Heath (1995) quoted a definition of water pollution given by Lloyd
(1992), as “the addition by humans of something to the water that alters its chemical
composition, temperature, or microbial composition to such an extent that harm occurs to
resident organisms or to humans”. However, this study will follow the definition given by
Mason (1981) who defined pollution as “the introduction by man into the environment of
substances or energy liable to cause hazards to human health, harm to living resources and
ecological systems, damage to structure or amenity, or interference with legitimate uses of
the environment”. Moriarty (1988) defined a pollutant as a substance that occurs in the
environment at least in part as a result of man’s activities, and which has a deleterious effect
on living organisms. Thus, we can say that a serious threat to water is ‘water pollution’and
Water pollution means anything to add water which makes water dirty and unsafe not only
for drinking and other human uses such as swimming, irrigation, and industrial use but it also
makes water harmful for other creatures on the Earth such as marines, animals and plants.
There are several causes of water pollution. These causes can be classified into two
categories: direct or point causes and indirect or nonpoint causes. Both direct and indirect
causes can add number of strange substances in water. Examples of these substances are
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Introduction
___________________________________________________________________________
organic, inorganic, radiological and biological. Direct or point contact is the contact in which
the pollutant/contaminant directly enters into the water at its occurring place. On the other
hand, the indirect (nonpoint) cause of water pollution is defines as the contact in which the
impurity occurs elsewhere and then later on, gradually, enters into the water through natural
means.
To meet the increasing demand for agricultural products, it is very common across the world
to use more sophisticated cultivation methods and chemicals, such as fertilizers and
pesticides, to get the higher yield. Although the use of chemicals and heavy machineries has
increased the yield beyond over beliefs, the use of these chemicals is one of main causes of
water pollution. Agrochemicals, such as, pesticides, fertilizers, organic manure, growth
hormones, and nutrient solution, pollute water significantly when they enter into the water
through rains (Kurian and Natarajan, 1997). Agricultural run-off affect groundwater and
surface water sources as they contain pesticide and fertilizer residues. Fertilizers have an
indirect adverse impact on water resources. Indeed, by increasing the nutritional content of
water courses, fertilizers allow organisms to proliferate. These organisms may be disease
vectors or algae. The proliferation of algae may slow the flow in water courses, thus
increasing the proliferation of organisms and sedimentation. Pollution by agricultural run-offs
has too main effects on the environment. Pesticides may be responsible for poisoning. They
are especially difficult to remove from freshwater, and thus, can be found in municipal or
bottled water, even after conventional treatment. A study from the Center for science and
Environment (CSE) recently drew the alarm about the concentration in pesticides such as
organochlorines and organophosphates that was exceeding the WHO standards in almost all
the Indian brands of bottled water (Narain, 2003).
In spite of these well known adverse effects, and the worrying growth of fertilizer and
pesticide use in the India agricultural sector, these products are still subsidized by the
government. Fertilizer consumption in India has increased significantly in the last three
decades. As per the record of FAO (2000) fertilizer use has increased from 7.7 MT (1984) -
13.4 MT (1996) - 113.40 MT (2002) - 194.57 MT (2008) - 166.29 MT (2009), almost an
increase to a range of more than 2000%.
Water pollution, has been increasing at an alarming rate due to rapid industrialization,
civilization and green revolution. Urban, agricultural and industrial activities release
xenobiotic compounds that may pollute the aquatic habitat. Industrialization and growth of
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