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7583127 
Journal Article 
Rotenone--a review of its toxicity and use for fisheries management 
Ling, N 
2003 
211 
40 
English 
Rotenone is a natural plant toxin used for centuries by indigenous peoples of Southeast Asia and South America for the harvesting of fish for human consumption. It has been used as a commercial insecticide for more than 150 years and for the management of fish populations since the 1930s. Fisheries management uses include eradication of pest fishes, quantifying populations, food web manipulation, controlling fish diseases, and restoring water bodies for threatened species. Rotenone is considered one of the most environmentally benign toxicants available for fisheries management. Fish are acutely sensitive to rotenone poisoning, quickly absorbing the toxin across the gill surface and dying within hours at concentrations below 1 ppm, although individual species sensitivities vary widely. Aquatic invertebrates are generally less sensitive than fish, but it will cause significant collateral loss of invertebrate fauna, although invertebrate populations quickly recover. Humans and wildlife are comparatively insensitive to rotenone, which provides a large safety margin between concentrations required to kill fish and those that may prove harmful to non-target, non-aquatic organisms. Rotenone can be applied to standing or flowing waters as a generally dispersed toxicant, either in liquid or powdered form, or as formulated baits to target nuisance species. Rotenone is chemically unstable and breaks down rapidly in the environment, yielding watersoluble non-toxic products. It is readily metabolised to non-toxic excretable substances in the bodies of vertebrates receiving a sub-lethal dose. Rotenone is not considered to be carcinogenic. Recent experimental findings linking it to Parkinsonian effects seem unlikely to occur under normal uses. Cost and availability limit the use of rotenone to relatively small water bodies. This summary reviews the toxicity of rotenone and its use in fisheries management. A limited risk assessment for rotenone use in New Zealand is provided given that its potential uses and the sensitivities of indigenous species have not been determined. 
rotenone; Toxicology Abstracts; Ecology Abstracts; ASFA 1: Biological Sciences & Living Resources; ASFA 3: Aquatic Pollution & Environmental Quality; Water Resources Abstracts; Pollution Abstracts; Risk Abstracts; Aquatic Populations; Basal ganglia; Insecticides; Wildlife; Inland water environment; Chemical control; Fish Management; Indigenous species; Movement disorders; Harvesting; Central nervous system diseases; Fisheries; Fish Populations; Hazards; Chemicals; fish diseases; New Zealand; Reviews; Ichthyocides; Fishery management; Poisoning; Invertebrata; Toxicity; Conservation; Food webs; Freshwater; Toxicants; Risk assessment; Pest control; Management; Environmental impact; Invertebrates; Q5 08504:Effects on organisms; Q1 08604:Stock assessment and management; SW 3030:Effects of pollution; Q1 08485:Species interactions: pests and control; D 04060:Management and Conservation; P 6000:TOXICOLOGY AND HEALTH; R2 23040:Biological; X 24320:Food Additives & Contaminants