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Pyrethroids as Promising Marine Antifoulants: Laboratory and Field Studies

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Abstract

Due to the regulations and bans regarding the use of traditional toxic chemicals against marine fouling organisms and the practical impediments to the commercialization of natural product antifoulants, there is an urgent need for compounds that are antifouling-active, environmentally friendly, and have a potential for commercial application. In this study, a series of common, commercially available pyrethroid products, which are generally used as environmentally safe insecticides, was evaluated for antifouling activity in the laboratory using an anti-settlement test with cyprids of the barnacle Balanus albicostatus and also in a field experiment. Laboratory assay showed that all eleven pyrethroids (namely, rich d-trans-allethrin, Es-biothrin, rich d-prallethrin, S-prallethrin, tetramethrin, rich d-tetramethrin, phenothrin, cyphenothrin, permethrin, cypermethrin, and high active cypermethrin) were able to inhibit barnacle settlement (EC50 range of 0.0316 to 87.00 μg/ml) without significant toxicity. Analysis of structure–activity relationships suggested that the cyano group at the α-carbon position had a significant influence on the expression of antifouling activity in pyrethroids. In the field, the antifouling activity of pyrethroids was further confirmed, with the most potent pyrethroids being cypermethrin and high active cypermethrin, which displayed efficiency comparable with that of tributyltin. In summary, our investigation indicated that these pyrethroids have a great and practical commercial potential as antifouling agents.

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Acknowledgments

We express our sincere thanks to Dr. Dan Rittschof for his constructive suggestions. Thanks are also due to Professor John Hodgkiss for his help in the preparation of the manuscript. This research was supported by Xiamen Sci-Tech Bureau under contract No. 3502Z20073014 and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NNSFC) under contract No. 40276041 and contract No. 40676081.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key State Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of Oceanography and Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, People’s Republic of China

    Danqing Feng, Caihuan Ke, Shaojing Li & Changyi Lu

  2. Department of Oceanography, College of Oceanography and Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, People’s Republic of China

    Caihuan Ke, Shaojing Li & Feng Guo

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  1. Danqing Feng
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Correspondence to Caihuan Ke.

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Feng, D., Ke, C., Li, S. et al. Pyrethroids as Promising Marine Antifoulants: Laboratory and Field Studies. Mar Biotechnol 11, 153–160 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-008-9130-9

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