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Title: Support for establishing structure-activity relationships between a series of phthalate esters and toxicity to aquatic organisms

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5909567

Di-n-butyl phthalate, di-n-butyl isophthalate, di-n-butyl terephthalate, di-n-octyl phthalate, di-n-octyl isophthalate, di-n-octyl terephthalate, and ..cap alpha..,..omega..-butylene di(o-(4-hydroxybutoxycarbonyl)benzoate) were either obtained from commercial sources or synthesized. After appropriate clean-up procedures, the chemical purity of each product was estimated from both gas chromatographic and liquid chromatographic profiles. Subsequently, some spectroscopic characteristics, including /sup 13/C nuclear magnetic resonance spectra, mid-infrared spectra, ultraviolet spectra, and mass spectra, were carefully documented for the purified compounds. The toxicity of di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP) and di-n-octyl phthalate (DOP) was assessed by measuring the effect of exposure to these compounds on the fecundity of Daphnia magna and on the hatching and survival of the early life stages of the fathead minnow, Pimephales promelas. For D. magna, exposure to 1.8 mg/L of DBP or 1.0 mg/L of DOP caused a significant reduction in reproduction. Doses of 0.56 mg/L of DBP or 0.32 mg/L of DOP had no significant effect in decreasing reproduction. Survival of fathead minnow larvae was decreased by exposure to 1.8 mg/L of DBP; none of the larvae exposed to this level hatched successfully. Hatching and larval survival were affected by exposure to 1.0 mg/L of DBP, but not to 0.56 mg/L. Exposure to DOP did not affect survival of either early embryos or larvae of the fathead minnow at doses up to 10 mg/L (the highest dose tested); hatching of the embryos was significantly decreased at 10 mg/L, but not at 3.2 mg/L. 27 references, 41 figures, 28 tables.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-84OR21400
OSTI ID:
5909567
Report Number(s):
ORNL/TM-9254; ON: DE85008754
Resource Relation:
Other Information: Environmental Sciences Division Publication No. 2366
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English