Penethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC) potentially is leaching into water courses and researchers are concerned the toxin can kill trout embryos and cause deformities.
Dr Neil Crooks, from the university’s Centre for Aquatic Environments, led the research which has been published in Water Air and Soil Pollution.
He said: “Results show the need to accurately quantify and monitor environmental levels of PEITC in the environment.”
Dr Crooks, with Asa White, a PhD student, and Centre colleagues Dr Angelo Pernetta and Professor Chris Joyce, Professor of Ecology, looked into the sources of PEITC.
Plants from the mustard or cabbage-family have evolved a chemical defence when chewed by grazing animals, a system called glucosinolate–myrosinase. It produces PEITC which acts as a deterrent to grazing invertebrates and can be toxic.