Avaliação ecotoxicogenética do tensoativo do liquido da casca da castanha de caju (TALCC-20) proposto como larvicida para o controle do Aedes aegypti

Abstract

Yellow fever, dengue fever, chikungunya and zika are mosquito-borne diseases such as Aedes aegypti. The surfactant product composed of Cashew Nut Shell Liquid with castor oil (TaLCC-20) has a proven larvicidal effect for Ae. aegypti at a concentration of 5 mg/L. However, in addition to proving its efficiency, it is necessary to evaluate the environmental safety of the product. In this context, the objective was to evaluate the ecotoxicological and genotoxic potential of TaLCC-20 using organisms of different trophic levels. The species Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata had an IC50-72h of 0.0013 mg/L and was classified as an acute level risk category I. Toxicity to D. similis was classified as an acute category II presenting an EC50-48h of 2.00. mg/L, and for O. niloticus LC50-96h of 15.69 mg/L acute level category III. TaLCC-20 showed genotoxic effect for both applied methodologies (micronucleus/nuclear alteration test and comet assay) only at the highest concentration (7.5 mg/L). Based on these results we found low toxicity for the three organisms studied compared to WHO recommended larvicides, absence of micronucleus and genotoxicity in lower concentration than the one in use, besides presenting efficient toxicity to Ae aegypti mosquito and consequently less damage to the environment.