Review of Environmental Fate and Effects of Selected
Phthalate Esters

1 Introduction

The present review of the environmental fate and effects of Dimethyl Phthalate (DMP); Diethyl Phthalate (DEP); Di-n-butyl Phthalate (DBP); Butylbenzyl Phthalate (BBP); Diisononyl Phthalate (DINP) and Diisodecyl Phthalate (DIDP) has been prepared by VKI for the Danish Environmental Protection Agency.

The main objective of the present review was to collect existing knowledge about the above mentioned phthalate esters, mainly based on data from existing reviews and easily available handbooks and databases. Thus a thorough literature search has not been performed.

The following physico-chemical and ecotoxicological properties have been covered:

• water solubility
• octanol-water partition coefficient
• degradation
• bioaccumulation
• toxicity to aquatic organisms
• estrogenic effects

Based on the available data, an Environmental Hazard Classification has been proposed for each of the phthalate esters. Furthermore, Predicted No-Effect Concentrations for the aquatic environment (PNEC_aquatic) have been proposed according to the methods used in the EU and DK, i.e. the methods described in the EU Technical Guidance Document for risk assessment of chemical substances.