In addition, Malathion is often applied to crops through aerial spraying or crop dusting. Malathion is a potential hazard to the environment both directly and indirectly. The possibility of this product seeping through the ground and into freshwater lakes as runoff is likely. In these lakes reside oxygen-producing plants called phytoplankton. My studies show that although Malathion is designed to target animals and not plants, when introduced into a lake it has a deleterious effect on phytoplankton.
Phytoplankton are the most photosynthetic members of the plankton community.
Their most important function is the conversion of solar energy and CO2 to oxygen during photosynthesis. The phytoplankton converts the carbon dioxide produced by fish and other aquatic life into usable dissolved oxygen. Measuring the productivity of phytoplankton can be accomplished by measuring of the amount of dissolved oxygen in a sample of water. The samples were allowed to culture for 72 hours. They were then removed, transported to the lab, and tested for dissolved oxygen content using a dissolved oxygen meter.