Spinosad is a bacterially derived insect control agent consisting of two active compounds, spinosyns A and D. The objective of this paper is to describe the environmental fate of spinosad in aquatic systems. To this end, several studies performed to meet regulatory requirements are used to study the fate and degradation in individual environmental media. Specifically, investigations of abiotic (hydrolysis and photolysis) and biotic (aerobic and anaerobic aquatic) processes are described. Understanding developed from the laboratory-based studies has been tested and augmented by an outdoor microcosm study. Understanding of aquatic fate is a building block for a complete environmental safety assessment of spinosad products (Cleveland, C. B.; Mayes, M. A.; Cryer, S. A. Pest Manag. Sci. 2001, 58, 70-84). From individual investigations, the following understanding of dissipation emerges: (1) Aqueous photolysis of spinosad is rapid (observed half-lives of <1 up to 2 days in summer sunlight) and will be the primary route of degradation in aquatic systems exposed to sunlight. (2) Biotic transformations contribute to spinosad's dissipation, but less so than photolysis; they will be of primary importance only in the absence of light. (3) Spinosad partitions rapidly (within a few days) from water to organic matter and soil/sediment in aquatic systems but not so rapidly as to replace sunlight as the primary route of dissipation. (4) Abiotic hydrolysis is relatively unimportant compared to other dissipation routes, except under highly basic (artificial) conditions and even then observed half-lives are approximately 8 months. Degradation pathways are understood are follows: (1) Degradation primarily proceeds by loss of the forosamine sugar and reduction of the 13,14-bond on the macrolide ring under aqueous photolytic conditions. (2) Degradation to several other compounds occurs through biotic degradation. Degradation under anaerobic conditions primarily involves changes and substitutions in the rhamnose ring, eventually followed by complete loss of the rhamnose ring. Degradation under aerobic conditions was more extensive (to smaller compounds) with the loss of both the forosamine and rhamnose sugars to diketone spinosyn aglycon degradates. (3) Hydrolytic degradation involves loss of the forosamine sugar and water and reduction on the macrolide ring to a double bond at the 16,17-position.

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