Effects of imidazole and triazole on burr medic and oilseed rape seedlings: Phytotoxicity, transformation, and bioaccumulation

Pesticides are chemical substances of natural or synthetic origin used to control pests and insects. Environmental pollution occurs when pesticide contamination spreads away from the target plants. Pesticides and their transformation products can have adverse effects on both target and non-target plants and organisms. Azole antifungals, which are imidazole and 1H-1,2,4-triazole derivatives, are the most commonly used agents for treating invasive fungal infections. Imidazole and 1H-1,2,4-triazole are important degradation products of these substances. In this study, Brassica napus (oilseed rape) and Medicago polymorpha (burr medic) were used as test plants for imidazole and 1H-1,2,4-triazole accumulation and leaching experiments, and the green alga Scenedesmus quadricauda was used to determine their toxicity. Burr medic was found to absorb more 1H-1,2,4-triazole, whereas oilseed rape absorbed imidazole more rapidly with increasing concentrations. Imidazole leached from both species over time in the absence of an external pollutant source significantly faster than 1H-1,2,4-triazole. The algae experiment showed that 1H-1,2,4-triazole was more toxic than imidazole, and a mixture of imidazole and 1H-1,2,4-triazole at low concentrations was more toxic than the individual substances. Using GC–MS/MS, HPLC-MS/MS and machine learning methods, previously unknown imidazole metabolites in oilseed rape tissues were detected and their structures determined.