Evidence of environmental transfer of tebuconazole to the eggs in the house sparrow (Passer domesticus): An experimental study

Triazole compounds are among the most widely used fungicides in agroecosystems to protect crops from potential fungal diseases. Many farmland birds spend a significant part of their life cycle in agroecosystems, which may chronically expose them to pesticides. We experimentally tested whether exposure to environmental concentrations of tebuconazole could induce a contamination of the eggs in an agroecosystem sentinel species, the house sparrow (Passer domesticus). Wild-caught adult sparrows were maintained in captivity and exposed (exposed group) or not (control group) for seven months to tebuconazole through drinking water. Eggs were opportunistically collected for the determination of tebuconazole concentration by Liquid Chromatography coupled to tandem Mass Spectrometry in eggs. We found that eggs from exposed parents all contained tebuconazole with a mean concentration of 1.52 ng g−1 dry weight. In eggs from control parents, the tebuconazole concentration was below the limit of quantification (0.23 ng g−1 dry weight) for 11 out of 13 eggs. Thus, our study demonstrates for the first time that environmental exposure of female birds to tebuconazole can translate into egg contamination by this fungicide. [Display omitted] •We exposed adult house sparrows to environmental concentrations of tebuconazole and collected their eggs.•Tebuconazole was found in the eggs of exposed sparrows, demonstrating egg contamination.•This contamination represent an early exposure route during chick embryonic development.