Journal: Environmental Contaminants Reviews (ECR)
Author: Doris Fovwe Ogeleka, Gloria Omorowa Omoregie

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Doi:10.26480/ecr.02.2020.97.102

ABSTRACT
The deleterious ecotoxicological influence of Sniper® a dichlorvos-based pesticide was evaluated on non-target environmental receptors – onions – (Allium cepa L) and snails – (Archachatina marginata). The mean effective concentration (EC50) of Sniper® was 7.07 ± 0.08 mg/L for Allium cepa L, with a safe limit estimated at 0.707 ± 0.04 mg/L, while the mean EC50 for Archachatina marginata was 0.762 ± 0.04 mg/kg with a safe concentration of 0.0762 ± 0.02 mg/kg. The Ecotoxicological Risk Assessment Matrix (ERAM) was used to evaluate the deleterious ecological consequences resulting from exposure to the test pesticide. The risk level designated for Sniper® in the Allium cepa L and Archachatina marginata bioassay was E3 or 15 (P; E; C) and E4 or 20 (A; E; C) respectively, which was considered moderate to high risk to plants (P), animals (A), the environment (E) and community (C) based on the frequency of application / exposure. The results from the study implied that continuous exposure and misuse of Sniper® could pose significant risk and damage to non-target plants, soil dwelling species and humans.

KEYWORDS
Dichlorvos, onions, pesticide, risk assessment matrix, snail.