Two million tonnes of pesticides are currently used globally to improve crop production, yet these pesticides induce adverse effects on soil quality and biodiversity. Moreover, less than 1% of pesticides reach the target pests, while the rest contaminate the surrounding environment. In particular, earthworms are exposed to pesticides and are thus an ideal biological model for ecotoxicological research. Here, we review acute and sub-lethal effects of pesticides on earthworms. We found that pesticides alter growth, reproduction, behaviour, essential enzymes, and DNA of earthworms, even at low pesticide concentrations. These sub-lethal biomarkers allow to evaluate the overall response of an earthworm to pesticides, and to identify the risk for other non-target organisms.

目前全球使用 200 万吨杀虫剂来提高作物产量，但这些杀虫剂会对土壤质量和生物多样性产生不利影响。此外，只有不到 1% 的农药能达到目标害虫，而其余的则污染了周围环境。特别是，蚯蚓暴露于杀虫剂中，因此是生态毒理学研究的理想生物模型。在这里，我们回顾了杀虫剂对蚯蚓的急性和亚致死效应。我们发现农药会改变蚯蚓的生长、繁殖、行为、必需酶和 DNA，即使在农药浓度较低的情况下也是如此。这些亚致死生物标志物可以评估蚯蚓对杀虫剂的整体反应，并确定其他非目标生物的风险。