The toxicity effects of atmospheres with high content of carbon dioxide with addition of sulphur dioxide on two stored-product pest species: Sitophilus oryzae and Tribolium confusum

Modified atmospheres (MAs) are safe and environmentally friendly alternatives to control pests in stored products. However, to accommodate the requirements of the food industry, the control of insects by a MA can be a too lengthy process. This paper describes the potential of sulphur dioxide as an additive to reduce the long lethal exposure of modified atmospheres (MA) enriched with carbon dioxide for major stored product pests. Specifically, we evaluated whether the addition of SO2 (0–30,000 ppm) to a high-CO2 content of 70%–95% MA could enhance its insecticidal effect for the control of Sitophilus oryzae and Tribolium confusum. The addition of 15,000 ppm and 30,000 ppm of SO2 to 95% CO2 enhanced control up to 100% in comparison to CO2 alone for S. oryzae and T. confusum adults when treated for one day in all of the substrates tested. However, the effectiveness of adding SO2 at reduced contents was lower and depended on the substrate and pest species considered. The addition of SO2 also increased the mortality of all of the developmental stages of S. oryzae. The increase in mortality with the addition of SO2 was also observed when included with 70% CO2. Therefore, the addition of SO2 can be considered a feasible means of shortening the length of treatment necessary to achieve the control of these two pests using a high-CO2 MA. [Display omitted] •The addition of SO2 to CO2 modified atmospheres reduced the lethal exposure time of Sitophilus oryzae and Tribolium confusum.•A mixture of 95% CO2 and 1.5% SO2 reduced treatment time for full mortality of both pests to 1 day.•The effectiveness of adding SO2 depended on the substrate and pest species considered.