A critical evaluation of the environmental risk assessment for plasticizers in the freshwater environment in Europe, with special emphasis on bisphenol A and endocrine disruption $ Jo ¨ rg Oehlmann à , Matthias Oetken, Ulrike Schulte-Oehlmann Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Institute for Ecology, Evolution and Diversity, Siesmayerstrasse 70, D-60054 Frankfurt am Main, Germany article info Article history: Received 14 March 2008 Received in revised form 15 July 2008 Accepted 23 July 2008 Keywords: Low dose effects Reproductive toxicity Mollusks Temperature Xeno-estrogen abstract Bisphenol A (BPA) and the phthalates di-butyl phthalate (DBP), di-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), di- isodecyl phthalate (DIDP) and di-isononyl phthalate (DINP) are high production volume plasticizers and are regularly detected in aquatic ecosystems due to their continuous release into the environment. These compounds are listed as priority substances in the European Union and therefore subject to an environmental risk assessment (ERA). Final ERA reports are available for DBP, DIDP and DINP, while the process is still ongoing for BPA and DEHP. The current approach critically reviews the exposure and especially the effect analyses in the reports or drafts, considering also potential endocrine effects of the plasticizers. & 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction A range of phthalate esters (esters of 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid) is used as plasticizers to increase the distendability and workability of synthetic polymers. They may constitute up to 50% of the total weight of PVC plastics (van Wezel et al., 2000). The worldwide annual production of phthalates is approximately 2.7 million metric tons (Bauer and Herrmann, 1997). Although they exhibit various abiotic and biotic degradation pathways and are not considered to be persistent chemicals (Staples et al., 1997), phthalates can be found at measurable concentrations in aquatic ecosystems all over the world due to high production volumes and an almost continuous release into the environment. Many phthalates are lipophilic with high n-octanol water partition coefficients (K OW , Table 1). However, bioconcentration factors (BCFs) in fish are lower than expected because aquatic vertebrates have a comparably high metabolic capacity for phthalates (van Wezel et al., 2000). A risk related to accumulation in the food chain is therefore not expected (Staples et al., 1997), although aquatic algae and invertebrates may bioconcentrate phthalates because they metabolize these plasticizers less effectively than vertebrates (van Wezel et al., 2000). With an estimated annual production of 700,000 metric tons in the EU and 2.5 million metric tons worldwide between 1996 and 1999 (Staples et al., 2002; EU, 2003c), bisphenol A (BPA) attains as a single substance an almost comparable volume to all phthalates together. BPA is both a plasticizer in some types of plastic as well as the monomer used to manufacture polycarbo- nate plastic and resins used to line cans. With a log K OW of 3.40 and a water solubility of 301 mg/L (Staples et al., 1998), a moderate adsorption to sediments and accumulation in organ- isms can be expected (Table 1). However, measured BCFs in fish suggest that BPA has a low potential for bioaccumulation in aquatic vertebrates. A slightly higher potential is indicated for freshwater invertebrates (Heinonen et al., 2002). BPA is easily degraded (Howard, 1989), nevertheless it is regularly detected in aquatic ecosystems due to its continuous release into the environment, comparably to plasticizers such as phthalates. Because of their almost ubiquitous presence in the environ- ment, the European Commission considered the four phthalates summarized in Table 1 (di-butyl phthalate—DBP; di-ethylhexyl phthalate—DEHP; di-isodecyl phthalate—DIDP; di-isononyl phthalate—DINP), and BPA in the list of priority substances. Like other priority substances in the European Union, these chemicals are subject to an environmental risk assessment (ERA), which has to be performed according to the regulations in the Technical Guidance Document (EC, 2003). In essence, the procedure for the ARTICLE IN PRESS Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/envres Environmental Research 0013-9351/$ - see front matter & 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.envres.2008.07.016 $ This publication is based on a lecture given during the workshop ‘‘Pollution and Environment—Plastic Contaminants in Water’’ during the ‘‘36th Session of International Seminars on Planetary Emergencies’’, held in Erice, Italy, 20–24 August 2006. à Corresponding author: Fax: +49 6979824748. E-mail address: oehlmann@bio.uni-frankfurt.de (J. Oehlmann). Environmental Research 108 (2008) 140–149