Abamectin in the aquatic environment.

Abamectin, widely used as a veterinary anthelmintic, medicine against a variety of animal parasites and insects, can runoff from the sites of application and becomes an aquatic pollutant. The aim of this study was to identify the toxicity of abamectin on bacteria, algae, daphnids, and fish. An extremely high toxicity of avermectin to the survival and reproduction of Daphnia magna was observed in 21-day exposure tests. Zebrafish and the algae Scenedesmus subspicatus are less sensitive to avermectin. The compound is expected to have adverse effects on the aquatic environment due to its high toxicity, even at very low concentrations, to daphnids and to fish.