van Gestel, Cornelis AM, et al. Ecotoxicology, 2017, 26, 320-328.
Imidacloprid and thiacloprid are neonicotinoid insecticides. This work investigated the toxicity of these two compounds to F. candida after three generations of exposure in a natural LUFA 2.2 standard soil. In the first generation, thiacloprid had a greater effect on reproduction, while imidacloprid was lethally toxic to springtails. In the multigenerational trial, imidacloprid had consistent effects on survival and reproduction in all three generations, while animals exposed to thiacloprid showed significant recovery in the second and third generations.
Imidacloprid D4 for chemical analysis
Soil samples were collected at the beginning of each new generation of exposure, and chemical analysis of imidacloprid and thiacloprid in the test soil was performed. Using stable isotope labeled analogs (imidacloprid-d4 and thiacloprid-d4) as internal standards to prepare soil samples of different concentrations can compensate for potential losses and instrumental variations during sample preparation, thereby improving the accuracy and precision of the analysis.
Imidacloprid and thiacloprid were then quantitatively analyzed using the isotope dilution method with their respective deuterated internal standards. The shift for imidacloprid was 256.1 > 175/209 (quantitative/qualitative), and the shift for imidacloprid-d4 was 260 > 179. For thiacloprid, the shift was 253.1 > 126/90 (quantitative/qualitative), and the shift for thiacloprid-d4 was 257 > 126.