Acute toxicity of butylbenzyl phthalate to shiner perch (Cymatogaster aggregata).

Abstract

The Clean Water Act of 1971 directed the Environmental Protection Agency to establish ambient water quality criteria for several classes of elements and compounds, including phthalate esters. Multispecies acute toxicity data are required to develop these criteria. Static bioassay LC50s for butylbenzyl phthalate (BBP) for a single species of marine fish based on nominal doses range from 3 mg/L to 440 mg/L. Flow-through bioassays were used in this study of BBP with shiner perch (Cymatogaster aggregata). Using measured exposure concentrations, 96-hr LC50s averaged 0.51 mg/L. Effects on schooling behavior were found at 0.08 mg/L and coloration at 0.24 mg/L. Coupled with the behavioral changes, reduced brain levels of epinephrine found in surviving fish indicated that the mode of acute toxicity for BBP may be through its effects on the catecholamines of the central adrenergic nervous system.