A risk assessment of selected phthalate esters in North American and Western European surface waters

Potential risks to aquatic organisms by four commercial phthalate esters, d imethyl (DMP), diethyl (DEP), di-n-butyl (DBP), and butylbenzyl (BBP), were assessed using measured and calculated concentrations in North American an d Western European surface waters. Predicted no effect concentrations (PNEC s) were calculated using statistical extrapolation procedures and the large aquatic toxicity database. Surface water concentrations of DMP, DEP, DBP, and BBP were calculated using reported emissions to US surface waters from the toxics release inventory (TRI). Monitoring data obtained from the US EP A STORET database and literature surveys from North America and Western Eur ope show that DMP, DEP, DBP, and BBP are infrequently deleted in surface wa ter. Calculated and measured concentrations of DMP, DEP, DBP, and BBP are t ypically several orders of magnitude below their respective PNECs, indicati ng that these phthalate esters do not pose a ubiquitous threat to aquatic o rganisms in North American and Western European surface waters. (C) 2000 El sevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.