Insecticide residues in bats along a land use-gradient dominated by cotton cultivation in northern Benin, West Africa

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international 2014, Vol.21 (14), p.8812-8821
• Main Authors: Stechert, Christin, Kolb, Marit, Bahadir, Müfit, Djossa, Bruno A, Fahr, Jakob
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agricultural ecosystems; Agriculture; Animals; Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Bats; Benin; bioaccumulation; Biological magnification; Cash crops; Chiroptera; Chlorpyrifos; Cotton; Crop residues; Cultivation; DDE; DDT; DDT (pesticide); DDT - analysis; detection limit; Dichlorodiphenyl Dichloroethylene - analysis; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecosystem services; Ecotoxicology; Electrochemistry; Endosulfan; Endosulfan - analysis; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental Monitoring; farming systems; farms; flubendiamide; Gossypium; insecticide residues; Insecticides; Insecticides - analysis; Intensive farming; Land use; landscapes; Lindane; Lindane - analysis; National parks; Nitrous oxide; Nontarget organisms; Persistent organic pollutants; Pesticide residues; Pesticide Residues - analysis; Pesticides; phytophagous insects; Population studies; Predators; Research Article; risk; Studies; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water pollution; Water Pollution Control
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-014-2817-8

Many regions in Africa are currently being converted from subsistence to cash crop farming such as cotton. Agricultural intensification is usually accompanied by increased use of pesticides, which can have an impact on non-target organisms. Bats are particularly sensitive to insecticide loads while providing substantial ecosystem services as predators of herbivorous insects. In this study, pesticide residues in bats in a landscape in northern Benin were investigated, which spanned a land use gradient from an agricultural zone dominated by cotton farms, through a buffer zone, and into a national park. Insecticides used in cotton cultivation, such as endosulfan, chlorpyrifos, flubendiamide, and spirotetramat, as well as persistent insecticides such as bis(4-chlorophenyl)-1,1,1-trichloroethane (DDT), lindane, and aldrine, were analysed. Insecticide residues detected in bats comprised DDT, endosulfan, and their corresponding transformation products. Maximum concentrations in the sampled bats were 11.2 mg/kg lipid of p,p′-DDE (median: 0.0136 mg/kg lipid) and 0.797 mg/kg lipid of β-endosulfan (median: below detection limit [DL]). While insecticide concentrations were below lethal concentrations our data suggest that DDT had probably been recently used in the study region, and larger scale use would pose an increased risk for bat populations due to the high biomagnification of DDT.