Weasel exposure to the anticoagulant rodenticide bromadiolone in agrarian landscapes of southwestern Europe

• Published in: Science of The Total Environment
• Main Authors: Fernández-de-Simón, Javier, Díaz-Ruiz, Francisco, Jareño, Daniel, Domínguez Villaseñor, Julio César, Lima-Barbero, José Francisco, Diego, Noelia de, Santamaría, Ana Eugenia, Herrero-Villar, Marta, Camarero, Pablo R., Olea, Pedro P., García, Jesús T., Mateo, Rafael, Viñuela, Javier
• Other Authors: Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España), European Commission, Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (España), Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha, Universidad de Málaga
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2022
• Subjects: Microtus arvalis
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/284028; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155914; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100010198; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100003329; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011698; https://doi.org/10.13039/100009473; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000780

Bromadiolone is an anticoagulant rodenticide (AR) commonly used as a plant protection product (PPP) against rodent pests in agricultural lands. ARs can be transferred trophically to predators/scavengers when they consume intoxicated live or dead rodents. ARs exposure in weasels Mustela nivalis, small mustelids specialized on rodent predation, is poorly known in southern Europe. Moreover, in this species there is no information on bioaccumulation of AR diastereomers e.g., cis- and trans-bromadiolone. Trans-bromadiolone is more persistent in the rodent liver and thus, is expected to have a greater probability of trophic transfer to predators. Here, we report on bromadiolone occurrence, total concentrations and diastereomers proportions (trans- and cis-bromadiolone) in weasels from Castilla y León (north-western Spain) collected in 2010–2017, where bromadiolone was irregularly applied to control outbreaks of common voles Microtus arvalis mainly with cereal grain bait distributed by the regional government. We also tested variables possibly associated with bromadiolone occurrence and concentration, such as individual features (e.g., sex), spatio-temporal variables (e.g., year), and exposure risk (e.g., vole outbreaks). Overall bromadiolone occurrence in weasels was 22% (n = 32, arithmetic mean of concentration of bromadiolone positives = 0.072 mg/kg). An individual showed signs of bromadiolone intoxication (i.e., evidence of macroscopic hemorrhages or hyperaemia and hepatic bromadiolone concentration > 0.1 mg/kg). All the exposed weasels (n = 7) showed only trans-bromadiolone diastereomer in liver, whilst a single analyzed bait from those applied in Castilla y León contained trans- and cis-bromadiolone at 65/35%. Bromadiolone occurrence and concentration in weasels varied yearly. Occurrence was higher in 2012 (100% of weasels), when bromadiolone was widely distributed, compared to 2016–2017 (2016: 20%; 2017: 8.33%) when bromadiolone was exceptionally permitted. The highest concentrations happened in 2014 and ...