Fipronil-Induced Chronic Kidney Disease

Fipronil is a slow-acting potent poison kill compat pests and is marketed under brand names as Frontline. It is typically used to kill fleas, mites and ticks on cats and dogs. All fleas are usually dead within 24 hours, all ticks within 48 hours. In other environments and under a variety of trade names, fipronil is used against rats (Fipronil), grasshoppers and locusts (Regent, Adonis), cockroaches (Goliath, Nexa), termites and Rasberry crazy ants (Termidor, Ultrathor, Taurus), wasps (Fipronil), etc. Furthermore, fipronil is highly toxic to aquatic life, even in minute doses[1].

Because of its effectiveness against insects, fipronil is probably the main cause of the colony collapse disorder in bees. Remember, without bees there are no flowers and witout flowers there are no plants which supply the vast majority of foods.

Suppose you inhale, ingest or absorb (through your skin) fipronil. Once may not constitute a problem, but you might be at seriuos risk if you're a commercial pet groomer or veterinarian. Symptoms of acute toxicity include sweating, nausea, vomiting, headache, abdominal pain, dizziness, agitation, weakness and seizures that affect the entire brain. Clinical signs of exposure to fipronil are generally reversible and resolve spontaneously.

The key word in the previous sentence is 'generally', because not all symptoms are reversible. Research suggest that prolonged exposure to fipronil may cause Chronic Kidney Disease[2][3]. I would like to propose the term Fipronil-Induced Chronic Kidney Disease for this specific Chronic Kidney Disease.

News: Eggs recalled after banned pesticide found on Dutch poultry farms. See here. 

[1] Qureshi et al: Exposure to sub-acute doses of fipronil and buprofezin in combination or alone induces biochemical, hematological, histopathological and genotoxic damage in common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) in Aquatic Toxicology – 2016
[2] Fipronil: Third Reevaluation - Report of the Hazard Identification Assessment Review Committee - 2000
[3] Katheek, David: Assessment of Renal Toxicity in Rats Exposed to Commercial Formulations of Fipronil in International Journal of Pharmaceutical, Chemical and Biological Sciences - 2017. See here.