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EC number: 201-873-2 | CAS number: 88-99-3
- Life Cycle description
- Uses advised against
- Endpoint summary
- Appearance / physical state / colour
- Melting point / freezing point
- Boiling point
- Density
- Particle size distribution (Granulometry)
- Vapour pressure
- Partition coefficient
- Water solubility
- Solubility in organic solvents / fat solubility
- Surface tension
- Flash point
- Auto flammability
- Flammability
- Explosiveness
- Oxidising properties
- Oxidation reduction potential
- Stability in organic solvents and identity of relevant degradation products
- Storage stability and reactivity towards container material
- Stability: thermal, sunlight, metals
- pH
- Dissociation constant
- Viscosity
- Additional physico-chemical information
- Additional physico-chemical properties of nanomaterials
- Nanomaterial agglomeration / aggregation
- Nanomaterial crystalline phase
- Nanomaterial crystallite and grain size
- Nanomaterial aspect ratio / shape
- Nanomaterial specific surface area
- Nanomaterial Zeta potential
- Nanomaterial surface chemistry
- Nanomaterial dustiness
- Nanomaterial porosity
- Nanomaterial pour density
- Nanomaterial photocatalytic activity
- Nanomaterial radical formation potential
- Nanomaterial catalytic activity
- Endpoint summary
- Stability
- Biodegradation
- Bioaccumulation
- Transport and distribution
- Environmental data
- Additional information on environmental fate and behaviour
- Ecotoxicological Summary
- Aquatic toxicity
- Endpoint summary
- Short-term toxicity to fish
- Long-term toxicity to fish
- Short-term toxicity to aquatic invertebrates
- Long-term toxicity to aquatic invertebrates
- Toxicity to aquatic algae and cyanobacteria
- Toxicity to aquatic plants other than algae
- Toxicity to microorganisms
- Endocrine disrupter testing in aquatic vertebrates – in vivo
- Toxicity to other aquatic organisms
- Sediment toxicity
- Terrestrial toxicity
- Biological effects monitoring
- Biotransformation and kinetics
- Additional ecotoxological information
- Toxicological Summary
- Toxicokinetics, metabolism and distribution
- Acute Toxicity
- Irritation / corrosion
- Sensitisation
- Repeated dose toxicity
- Genetic toxicity
- Carcinogenicity
- Toxicity to reproduction
- Specific investigations
- Exposure related observations in humans
- Toxic effects on livestock and pets
- Additional toxicological data
Endpoint summary
Administrative data
Description of key information
Additional information
Phthalic acid is a weak to medium strong acid and partly dissociating in water causing a pH shift (pKa1: 2.97; pKa2: 5.43). The tolerance of water organisms towards pH is diverse. Recommended pH values for test species listed in OECD guidelines are between 6 and 9.
In cases where no reliable ecotoxicity test for phthalic acid on aquatic organisms are available a read-across approach of phthalic anhydride was carried out. Phthalic anhydride degraded by hydrolysis to phthalic acid, the hydrolysis half-life was determined to be ca. 30 seconds. In all likelihood in the aquatic toxicity tests the observed effects were caused by degradation product phthalic acid. To describe a worst case scenario no conversion to molecular weight of phthalic acid, which would lead to less sensitive effect values, was carried out.
A test conducted according to the Draft Guideline OECD 210 is regarded as an acute toxicity test of phthalic anhydride to fish; as developmental stages in the life cycles of fish have been shown to be relatively sensitive to the effects of chemicals rather than to adults leading to more meaningful results with respect to acute toxicity. The embryolarval stages of Brachydanio rerio (new name: Danio rerio) were exposed to phthalic anhydride for 7 days in buffered medium under semistatic conditions yielding a LC50 of 560 mg/l (Van Leeuwen, 1990).
In a test, the fresh water alga Desmodesmus subspicatus was exposed to phthalic acid for 72 hours. The experiment was conducted according to EU method C.3 as a limit test in two media, once with and the other without pH adjustment. The results of both tests clearly indicate that the toxic effects are not due to substance inherent properties but to a function of pH. The test with pH adjustment gave a NOEC of > 100 mg/l (Bayer Industry Services, 2004).
A test with respect to the acute toxicity towards invertebrates (Daphnia magna) yields in a 48 h-EC50 of > 640 mg/l (Adams, 1986). For long-term toxicity of phthalic acid to fish a read-across approach of phthalic anhydride was used. An early life stage toxicity test according to the Draft Guideline OECD 210 was carried out in buffered medium using Salmo gairdneri (new name: Oncorhynchus mykiss) as test species. A NOEC of 10 mg/L after 60 days was received(Van Leeuwen, 1990).
Long-term toxicity of phthalic anhydride towards aquatic invertebrates (Daphnia magna) was investigated in a reproduction test conducted according to OECD Guideline 211. After 21 days of exposure a NOEC-reproduction of 16 mg/l was determined (MITI, 2003). The result is regarded with caution, since it cannot be excluded that the toxicity observed was due to pH effects based on the formation of phthalic acid during the experiment causing a pH shift.
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