A rapid evidence assessment of the potential risk to the environment presented by active ingredients in the UK’s most commonly sold companion animal parasiticides

A number of parasiticides are commercially available as companion animal treatments to protect against parasite infestation and are sold in large volumes. These treatments are not intended to enter the wider environment but may be washed off or excreted by treated animals and have ecotoxic impacts....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental science and pollution research international 2022-06, Vol.29 (30), p.45070-45088
Main Authors: Wells, Clodagh, Collins, C. M. Tilly
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Aquatic Pollution
Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution
Earth and Environmental Science
Ecotoxicology
Environment
Environmental Chemistry
Environmental Health
Environmental risk
Environmental science
Exposure
Fipronil
Green infrastructure
Imidacloprid
Insecticides
Literature reviews
Open spaces
Parasites
Pesticides
Prevention
Review
Review Article
Skin
Toxicity
Urban planning
Vertebrates
Veterinary medicine
Waste Water Technology
Water Management
Water Pollution Control
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Summary:A number of parasiticides are commercially available as companion animal treatments to protect against parasite infestation and are sold in large volumes. These treatments are not intended to enter the wider environment but may be washed off or excreted by treated animals and have ecotoxic impacts. A systematic literature review was conducted to identify the existing evidence for the toxicity of the six most used parasiticides in the UK: imidacloprid, fipronil, fluralaner, afoxolaner, selamectin, and flumethrin. A total of 17,207 published articles were screened, with 690 included in the final evidence synthesis. All parasiticides displayed higher toxicity towards invertebrates than vertebrates, enabling their use as companion animal treatments. Extensive evidence exists of ecotoxicity for imidacloprid and fipronil, but this focuses on exposure via agricultural use and is not representative of environmental exposure that results from use in companion animal treatments, especially in urban greenspace. Little to no evidence exists for the ecotoxicity of the remaining parasiticides. Despite heavy usage, there is currently insufficient evidence to understand the environmental risk posed by these veterinary treatments and further studies are urgently needed to quantify the levels and characterise the routes of environmental exposure, as well as identifying any resulting environmental harm.
ISSN:0944-1344
1614-7499
DOI:10.1007/s11356-022-20204-2