A summary of the acute toxicity of 14 phthalate esters to representative aquatic organisms

Abstract Acute aquatic toxicity studies were performed with 14 commercial phthalate esters and representative freshwater and marine species. The 14 esters were dimethyl phthalate; diethyl phthalate; di-n-butyl phthalate; butyl benzyl phthalate; dihexyl phthalate; butyl 2-ethylhexyl phthalate; di-(n-hexyl, n-octyl, n-decyl) phthalate; di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate; diisooctyl phthalate; diisononyl phthalate; di-(heptyl, nonyl, undecyl) phthalate; diisodecyl phthalate; diundecyl phthalate; and ditridecyl phthalate. Phthalate esters with alkyl chain lengths of four carbon atoms or fewer were determined to be acutely toxic at concentrations ranging from 0.21 to 377 mg/L depending on the ester and the solubility of the test chemical in water. There was a general trend for the lower-molecular-weight phthalate esters (C1 to C4 alkyl chain lengths: dimethyl phthalate; diethyl phthalate; di-n-butyl phthalate; and butyl benzyl phthalate) to become more toxic with decreasing water solubility for all species tested. There were only minor differences in species sensitivity to each of the phthalate esters. Phthalate esters with alkyl chain lengths of six carbon atoms or more were not acutely toxic at concentrations approaching their respective aqueous solubilities. Insufficient mortality occurred to calculate either LC50 or EC50 values or acute no-observed-effect concentrations for these higher-molecular-weight phthalate esters. The lack of toxicity observed for the higher-molecular-weight phthalate esters resulted from their limited water solubility (≤1.1 mg/L).