Enantioselective separation and zebrafish embryo toxicity of insecticide beta-cypermethrin

Enantioselectivity of chiral pollutants is receiving growing concern due to the difference in toxicology and environment fate between enantiomers. In this study, enantiomers of insecticide beta-cypermethrin (beta-CP) were separated on selected chiral column by HPLC, and the toxicity of enantiomers was evaluated using the zebrafish embryo-larval assays. The enantiomers of beta-CP were baseline separated on Chiralcel OD and Chiralpak AD columns and detected by circular dichroism (CD) at 236 nm. Better separation could be achieved at lower temperature (e.g., 20°C) and with lower levels of polar modifiers. Pure enantiomers were obtained on Chiralcel OD. The CD spectra of enantiomers were recorded. By comparing the elution order with a previous similar study, the absolute configuration of beta-CP enantiomers was determined. The individual enantiomers were used in zebrafish embryo test, and the results showed that beta-CP enantioselectively induced yolk sac edema, pericardial edema and crooked body. The 1R-cis-αS and 1R-trans-αS enantiomers showed strong developmental toxicities at concentration of 0.1 mg/L, while the 1S-cis-αR and 1S-trans-αR induced no malformations at higher concentration (e.g., 0.3 mg/L). The results suggest that the enantioselective toxicological effects of beta-CP should be considered when evaluating its ecotoxicological effects.