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Activity:
Lampricide,
Piscicide
Structure:
Adverse Effects:
Body
Weight Decrease
Endocrine:
Altered Sex Ratio
Endocrine: Disruptor
Genotoxic
Environmental
TFM
is the main chemical used to kill sea lamprey larvae in
tributaries to the Great Lakes, the Finger Lakes, and Lake
Champlain. Since
1958, TFM has been used in the tributaries of the Great
Lakes on a rotational basis. The Sea Lamprey Control Program
is the responsibility of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission,
but it is delivered by Fisheries and Oceans in Canada and
the Fish and Wildlife Service in the United States.
Since
March 1990 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services are the only
"approved company" to use this lamprecide.
Food
Tolerances: From
the Table below, approximately 400,000 pounds of TFM were
put into streams, creeks, and lakes in the Great Lakes Basin
between 1993-1997. Many of these areas are prime fishing
areas. Yet, there
are no tolerances for TFM in the US because EPA considers
the use of this compound to be non-food. According to EPA:
"Based on current use pattens and exposure profiles,
residues in and on food and/or feed or in drinking water
are not expected to occur. Therefore, a dietary risk assessment
is not required."
Ref: Nov 1999 EPA RED
Table
1: Summary of TFM use by the USFWS in the Great Lakes
Region (1993-1997)
Ref: US
EPA RED, November 1999 |
Lake |
1993 |
1994 |
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
pounds
active ingredient used |
Superior |
6,717 |
19,991 |
15,997 |
12,083 |
18,768 |
Michigan |
18,150 |
31,219 |
25,507 |
29,811 |
22,959 |
Huron |
40,371 |
26,953 |
24,065 |
14,605 |
27,926 |
Erie |
0 |
9,561 |
414 |
5,981 |
2,815 |
Ontario |
9,438 |
7,026 |
10,307 |
11,001 |
6,442 |
Total |
74,676 |
94,750 |
76,290 |
73,481 |
78,910 |
|
Effects
on fish TFM became a concern in 1992, when Fisheries and
Oceans staff identified previously undetected metabolic
effects in fish at sites that had been treated. The Commission
responded quickly, helping to fund research by Fisheries
and Oceans. The research found that
the TFM batches contained trace amounts of dioxin. Though
it was not the most toxic form, fish are known to be sensitive
to dioxins, especially in their developmental stages. The
source of the dioxin was traced to a by-product of the chemical's
production, and concentrations varied widely from one batch
to another. The research led to a change in the manufacturing
process, and the Commission now requires
manufacturers to produce TFM without dioxins.
Ref: The importance of maintaining up-to-date information
on the environmental impacts of pesticide use for sea lamprey
control
|
Body
Weight Decrease
(click on for all fluorinated pesticides)
In
a second 90-day feeding study in rats (MRID 00112727), groups
of weanling SD rats (10/sex/group) were fed diets containing TFM
(90%) at concentrations of 500, 900, 1620, 2916, or 5248 ppm for
90 days. The control groups (20/sex) received the untreated diet.
The results showed that body weights of
the 2916 and 5248 ppm groups were consistently decreased (10-13%)
in males from week 3 to the end of the study. The decrease was
statistically significant (8)
Ref:
Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) 3-Trifluoro-Methyl-4-Nitro-Phenol
and Niclosamide. US EPA, Office of Prevention, Pesticides And
Toxic Substances (7508C). Report No. EPA 738-R-99-007. November
1999.
http://www.fluoridealert.org/pesticides/tfm.red.1999.pdf
...
The sensitivity of mudpuppies, frog tadpoles, and adult frogs
to use of 3-trifluoromethyl-4- nitrophenol (TFM) in the Great
Lakes has been noted on many occasions. TFM has been used annually
since 1958 for the control of sea lampreys throughout the Great
Lakes. Amphibians regularly have been found dead in creeks immediately
after TFM treatment (Gilderhus and Johnson 1980, Matson 1990).
Laboratory tests have confirmed that species native to the Great
Lakes Basin, such as the grey tree frog, northern leopard frog,
and bullfrog, are sensitive to levels of TFM used for sea lamprey
control (Chandler and Marking 1975). Mudpuppy
population size decreased by a minimum of 29 per cent after a
spray event in the Grand River of Ohio (Matson 1990)...
Ref:
Conservation Priorities for the Amphibians and Reptiles of Canada.
Sept 2000 report published by World Wildlife Fund Canada and Canadian
Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Network. Prepared by David
Seburn and Carolyn Seburn.
Endocrine:
Altered Sex Ratio
(click
on for all fluorinated pesticides)
•
Note from FAN:
The use of TFM in the Great Lakes began at the end of the 1950's.
Since that time there has been a dramatic shift from male to
female sea lampreys. A confounding factor may be that TFM was
found to be contaminated with dioxin in the early 1990s. It
is unclear to me whether dioxin influenced this alteration,
or TFM alone, or the combination of TFM and dioxin. If someone
can clarify, please contact me. [EC, Sept. 2003]
-- TFM treatments have
been associated with induction of hepatic mixed function oxyganase
activity and altered levels of circulating
steroids in fish and induced hepatic
vitellogenesis in primary cultures of rainbow trout hepatocytes
(Hewitt et al. 1997). As such, TFM acts as an
estradiol agonist and has a demonstrated
endocrine disrupting effect...
-- Abundance of sea lamprey peaked in several
Great Lakes before chemical control began. The sex ratio in these
peak populations were predominately males (68-71%). Following
a decade of lampricide treatments, populations of sea lampreys
showed marked declines and the sex ratios
in these populations shifted toward a predominance
of females accounting for 72% of the population (Henrich,
et al, 1979). This publication by Henrich concludes that lampricides
reduced the populations of sea lampreys in the Great Lakes and
contributed to the sequential shifting of
the sex composition from a predominance of males to a predominance
of females. There are no data to support that the endocrine
mediated effect associated with TFM is related to the observed
sex-ratio shifts among TFM-treated populations of sea lamprey
[page 23].
Ref: November 1999 US EPA's Reregistration
Eligibility Decision (RED) for 3-Trifluoro-Methyl-4-Nitro-Phenol
and Niclosamide). http://www.fluoridealert.org/pesticides/tfm.red.1999.pdf
Abstract: HEEP COPYRIGHT:
BIOL ABS. Growth and age at metamorphosis were determined for
populations of larval sea lampreys that became reestablished after
chemical treatments of tributaries of Lakes Superior and Michigan
(USA) with the selected lampricide, 3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol.
Age at metamorphosis varied from 3-7 yr. Growth of ammocetes varied
considerably from stream to stream and within streams. Mean lengths
of ammocetes of age group III in late summer or early fall in
different streams ranged from 65-144 mm. Ammocetes of the 1st
yr class established after a chemical treatment grew faster than
those of succeeding year classes. Transformation at an early age
usually occurred only among fast-growing larvae in large streams.
A reversal of the sex ratio, from predominately male to predominately
female, followed the reduction of the adult sea lamprey population.
Sex ratios of larval and recently metamorphosed sea lampreys reestablished
after chemical treatments rapidly shifted from an excess of males
to an excess of females. The shift in sex ratio was related
to decreased densities of sea lampreys resulting from treatments.
Ref: PURVIS HA (1979). Variations in growth,
age at transformation, and sex ratio of sea lampreys (Petromyzon
marinus) reestablished in chemically treated tributaries of the
upper Great Lakes (USA). GREAT LAKES FISH COMM TECH REP; 0 (35).
1-36.
Endocrine:
Disruptor
(click
on for all fluorinated pesticides)
-- TFM treatments have
been associated with induction of hepatic mixed function oxyganase
activity and altered levels of circulating
steroids in fish and induced hepatic
vitellogenesis in primary cultures of rainbow trout hepatocytes
(Hewitt et al. 1997). As such, TFM acts as an estradiol agonist and
has a demonstrated endocrine disrupting effect...
-- Abundance of sea lamprey peaked in several Great Lakes before
chemical control began. The sex ratio in
these peak populations were predominately males (68-71%). Following
a decade of lampricide treatments, populations of sea lampreys
showed marked declines and the sex ratios in these populations
shifted toward a predominance of females accounting for 72% of
the population (Henrich, et al, 1979). This publication by Henrich
concludes that lampricides reduced the populations of sea lampreys
in the Great Lakes and contributed to the sequential shifting
of the sex composition from a predominance of males to a predominance
of females. There are no data to support that the endocrine
mediated effect associated with TFM is related to the observed
sex-ratio shifts among TFM-treated populations of sea lamprey
[page 23].
Ref: November 1999 US EPA's Reregistration
Eligibility Decision (RED) for 3-Trifluoro-Methyl-4-Nitro-Phenol
and Niclosamide).
http://www.fluoridealert.org/pesticides/tfm.red.1999.pdf
Abstract: BIOSIS COPYRIGHT: BIOL ABS. Recent laboratory studies
with nontarget fish species have shown that the lampricide 3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol
(TFM) exhibits estrogenic activity through binding to rainbow
trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) hepatic estrogen receptors and induction
of vitellogenin in hepatocyte cultures. In addition, mixed function
oxygenase (MFO) activity associated with exposure to field formulations
has been attributed in part to the presence of chloro-nitrotrifluoromethyl-dibenzo-p-dioxin
impurities. To investigate the environmental effects associated
with these findings, the temporal and spatial patterns of MFO
activity and vitellogenin induction were monitored in three nontarget
fish species following a TFM field treatment. Elevated MFO activity
was detected as early as 1 day in caged rainbow trout and activity
in trout, wild white sucker (Catostomus commersoni), and longnose
dace (Rhinichthys cataractae) peaked 2 or 3 days after treatment.
Highest activities were observed in fish
Ref: HEWITT LM et al. (1998). Hepatic mixed
function oxygenase activity and vitellogenin induction in fish
following a treatment of the lampricide 3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol
(TFM). CANADIAN JOURNAL OF FISHERIES AND AQUATIC SCIENCES; 55
(9). 1998. 2078-2086.
Genotoxic
(click
on for all fluorinated pesticides)
Mutagenicity. In an
in vitro cytogenetic assay (MRID 40999201), cultured CHO cells
were exposed to TFM (86%) at concentrations of 49.6, 99.2, 149,
or 198 Fg/ml for 17.25 hrs. in absence of the S9 metabolic activation.
In the presence of the S9 activation, the CHO cells were exposed
to TFM at concentrations of 115, 384, 769, 1150, or 1540 Fg/ml
for 2 hrs. After exposure to TFM, the treated cells were washed
with buffered saline, and complete McCoyÕs a medium containing
0.1 Fg/ml Colcemid was added to the washed cells. The cells were
then incubated for 2.5 hrs (without S9) or 7.5 hrs (with S9).
The metaphase cells were then harvested, and slides prepared for
analysis. The results showed that, without S9 activation, TFM
at concentrations of 149 and 198 Fg/ml induced
chromosomal aberrations, consisting mainly of simple chromatid
breaks. In the presence of S9 activation, 1150 and 1540 Fg/ml
of TFM caused a statistically significant
and dose-related increase in chromosomal aberrations, consisting
of simple chromatid and chromosome breaks. (pp 10--11)
Ref: November 1999 US EPA's Reregistration
Eligibility Decision (RED) for 3-Trifluoro-Methyl-4-Nitro-Phenol
and Niclosamide).
http://www.fluoridealert.org/pesticides/tfm.red.1999.pdf
Environmental
(click
on for all fluorinated pesticides)
Abstract:
Toxicity testing with fish began early in this century,
but standardized methods have been developed only within
the last three decades. Standardized test procedures promote
reproducibility of results; healthy fish properly handled
and acclimated to test conditions are a given prerequisite.
The principles of acute toxicity testing are important in
the design of chronic tests for suspected carcinogens because
certain factors influence the activity of chemicals or contaminants.
The pH of test water is a critical factor in governing the
uptake of chemicals by fish. Buffering is required so that
uniform pH in waters of different hardnesses and different
pHs in water of a given hardness are maintained.
The importance of water quality control is graphically demonstrated
by the lampricide 3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol; the toxicant
is over 50 times more toxic in water at pH 6.5 than at pH
9.5. Results of laboratory tests on toxicity or carcinogenicity
of single compounds in a clean environment represent an
oversimplification of the real world because organisms are
actually exposed to multiple chemicals or stresses. Because
the environment is a complex interaction of physical, chemical,
and biological factors that are extremely variable and dynamic,
simulation of these systems in the laboratory is, at best,
artificial; therefore, results developed must be considered
to be predictive.
Ref:
Marking LL (1984). Procedures
for use of freshwater fishes in the development of reproducible
toxicological information. Natl Cancer Inst Monogr 1984
May;65:195-9
--
TFM is chemically and biologically very stable. The
compound possesses many of the chemical features known to
impart persistence to organic compounds... TFM was
converted to reduced-TFM with a half-life of less than one
week under both aerobic and anaerobic aquatic metabolism
conditions. It must be stressed that when reduced-TFM is
reported as a reaction product, degradation has not occurred.
TFM has just undergone a chemical reduction and under
appropriate conditions, reduced-TFM may be re-oxidized to
TFM... TFM is expected to remain in solution in the
lake system and persist for long periods
of time... TFM (C7 H4 F3 NO3 ; M.W. 207.11) is chemically
and biologically very stable. An examination of its
structure, i.e., aromatic, fluoro-containing, m-substituted
phenol, shows that the compound possesses
many of the chemical features known to impart persistence
to organic compounds. Its pKa is 6.07 and the effect
of pH on the toxicity appears to follow closely to the concentration
of the lipid-soluble, free phenol form of TFM. This pH sensitivity
is used to maximize effectiveness. As pH increases, toxicity,
bioaccumulation, and adsorption to sediment decrease. Aqueous
solubility of the sodium salt is 5 g/L.[P 24-25].
Ref:
Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) 3-Trifluoro-Methyl-4-Nitro-Phenol
and Niclosamide. US EPA, Office of Prevention, Pesticides
And Toxic Substances (7508C). Report No. EPA 738-R-99-007.
November 1999.
http://www.fluoridealert.org/pesticides/tfm.red.1999.pdf
Note
from FAN:
The use of TFM in the Great Lakes began at the end of
the 1950's. Since that time there has been a dramatic
shift from male to female sea lampreys. A confounding
factor may be that TFM was found to be contaminated with
dioxin in the early 1990s. It is unclear to me whether
dioxin influenced this alteration, or TFM alone, or the
combination of TFM and dioxin. [EC, Sept. 2003]
--
TFM treatments have been associated with induction of hepatic
mixed function oxyganase activity and altered
levels of circulating steroids in fish and induced
hepatic vitellogenesis in primary
cultures of rainbow trout hepatocytes (Hewitt et al. 1997).
As such, TFM acts as an estradiol
agonist and has a demonstrated
endocrine disrupting effect...
-- Abundance of sea lamprey peaked
in several Great Lakes before chemical control began. The
sex ratio in these peak populations were predominately males
(68-71%). Following a decade of lampricide treatments,
populations of sea lampreys showed marked declines and the
sex ratios in these populations
shifted toward a predominance of females accounting for
72% of the population (Henrich, et al, 1979). This
publication by Henrich concludes that lampricides reduced
the populations of sea lampreys in the Great Lakes and contributed
to the sequential shifting of the
sex composition from a predominance of males to a predominance
of females. There are no data to support that the
endocrine mediated effect associated with TFM is related
to the observed sex-ratio shifts among TFM-treated populations
of sea lamprey [page 23].
Ref: November 1999 US EPA's
Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) for 3-Trifluoro-Methyl-4-Nitro-Phenol
and Niclosamide).
http://www.fluoridealert.org/pesticides/tfm.red.1999.pdf
...
The sensitivity of mudpuppies, frog tadpoles, and adult
frogs to use of 3-trifluoromethyl-4- nitrophenol (TFM) in
the Great Lakes has been noted on many occasions. TFM has
been used annually since 1958 for the control of sea lampreys
throughout the Great Lakes. Amphibians regularly have been
found dead in creeks immediately after TFM treatment (Gilderhus
and Johnson 1980, Matson 1990). Laboratory tests have confirmed
that species native to the Great Lakes Basin, such as the
grey tree frog, northern leopard frog, and bullfrog, are
sensitive to levels of TFM used for sea lamprey control
(Chandler and Marking 1975). Mudpuppy
population size decreased by a minimum of 29 per cent after
a spray event in the Grand River of Ohio (Matson
1990)...
Ref:
Conservation Priorities for the Amphibians and Reptiles
of Canada. Sept 2000 report published by World Wildlife
Fund Canada and Canadian Amphibian and Reptile Conservation
Network. Prepared by David Seburn and Carolyn Seburn.
HEEP
COPYRIGHT: BIOL ABS. Since 1958, 3-(trifluoromethyl)-4-nitrophenol
(TFM) has been used to control the sea lamprey (Petromyzon
marinus) in the USA-Canadian Great Lakes Superior, Michigan,
Huron and Ontario. A study was conducted to determine the
degradability of TFM under laboratory conditions in aqueous
(sediment-free) systems. No evidence
of microbial degradation of TFM was found up to 80 days.
TFM may persist for extended periods of time in the Great
Lakes. On the basis of past and present levels of
usage of TFM, it was estimated that the concentration of
TFM in Lake Superior water could approach, if TFM were a
completely conservative chemical, 0.015 mug/l. This concentration
was considerably less than the concentrations found to be
acutely and chronically toxic to aquatic life. The use of
TFM as a sea lamprey larvicide did not represent a hazard
to fish and other nontarget aquatic life in the Great Lakes.
Ref: THINGVOLD DA et al. (1981). Persistence
of 3-(trifluoromethyl)-4-nitrophenol in aquatic environments.
ENVIRON SCI TECHNOL; 15 (11). 1335-1340.
Excerpts
from Technical
Report 7. April 2000. Animal Deformities or Reproduction
Problems. Prepared for the Lake Erie LaMP Preliminary
Beneficial Use Impairment Assessment. Keith A. Grasman,
Lead Author. Co-Authors: Christine A. Bishop, William
W. Bowerman, James P. Ludwig, Pamela A. Martin. http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/lakeerie/buia/lamp7.pdf
(page
13):
The sensitivity of mudpuppies, frog tadpoles and adult
frogs to TFM use in the Great Lakes has been noted (Gilderhus
and Johnson, 1980). TFM is intended to control larval
sea lamprey and has been used historically in 19 (8 in
U.S./11 in Canada) of the 842 tributaries to Lake Erie
for sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) control. Since 1995,
TFM has been applied in Conneaut Creek and the Grand River
in Ohio and Big Creek and Big Otter Creek in Ontario.
Only four Lake Erie tributaries (Big Creek Ontario, and
3 U.S. tributaries) are currently scheduled for future
regular treatments every 4 to 6 years.
When
TFM is used, amphibians have regularly been found dead
in creeks immediately after treatment in Lake Erie watersheds
and elsewhere in the Great Lakes
(Gilderhus and Johnson, 1980; Matson, 1990).
Laboratory tests have confirmed that species native to
the Great Lakes basin such as gray tree frog, leopard
frog, and bullfrog are sensitive to field applied rates
of TFM (Chandler and Marking, 1975). In the Grand
River, Ohio, Matson (1990) found that in the year following
TFM application (1997), mudpuppy
population size decreased by a minimum of 29% in the segment
treated. In 1999, the Grand
River was treated with TFM and dead mudpuppies were found
downstream of the application zone within twenty-fours
hours.
Because
TFM is not bioaccumulative and is only applied periodically
in closely controlled and monitored conditions, the associated
mudpuppy mortality is often perceived to be insignificant.
However, mudpuppies do not become
sexually mature until 4 to 6 years of age. Given
the past and projected future schedule for TFM applications,
there is the potential for the TFM applications to match
periods when large numbers of mudpuppy are reaching an
age when they can reproduce. In addition, TFM is generally
applied in the spring when stream flows are higher. Therefore,
TFM has the potential to kill a
portion of the existing females before they lay their
eggs in May and June. For these reasons, future study
is needed to determine the significance of the mortality
and the life stages most affected (see section
7.5).
(page
16)
• There are conflicting opinions about the significance
of non-target species sensitivity, particularly mudpuppy,
to TFM (when used for sea lamprey eradication), and its
implications for potential impairment. Therefore, the
impact of TFM on amphibian populations needs to be assessed
by monitoring populations of mudpuppies and other amphibians
pre- and postapplication. From a
reproductive standpoint, it is particularly important
to determine if TFM has greater impacts on certain age
classes and/or egg-bearing females.
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