Dibenzoyl peroxide

Toxicity to soil macroorganisms except arthropods

Description of key information

LC50_14 days > 1000 mg/kg dw was determined in an OECD 207 study. As a conservative approach, the highest tested concentration is selected for chemical safety assessment (1000 mg/kg dw).

Key value for chemical safety assessment

Short-term EC50 or LC50 for soil macroorganisms:

1 000

Additional information

The acute effects of Dibenzoyl Peroxide on earthworm (Eisenia foetida) were determined according to the OECD Guideline 207 (1984) and GLP requirements (Chastenet, 2015).

The study was conducted under laboratory conditions over a 14-day period, in an artificial soil medium.

Four replicate vessels, each containing ten adult earthworms, were prepared for each treatment group in the test.

At the request of the sponsor, the definitive test was conducted at the following nominal concentrations: 3.0, 9.5, 30.5, 97.7, 312.5 and 1000 mg /kg soil dry weight.

Due to the limited solubility of the test item (0.35 mg/L), acetone was used to prepare test solutions. Therefore, an untreated control and a solvent control were also included.

The mortality in both control groups did not exceed 10% at the end of the test. The test was considered to be valid. The effect of the solvent was checked: the solvent had no significant effect on the mortality of worms (P>0.05; t-test). Mortality data of the test item groups were analysed for significant differences compared to the control: no significant increase in mortality was observed for any of the tested concentrations compared to controls (P>0.05; Dunnet test). As there was no significant difference of mortality between controls and exposed worms up to the highest tested concentration 1000 mg/kg dw under the conditions of the test, it was not possible to calculate a median lethal concentration LC50 which is thus assumed to be higher than 1000 mg/kg dw.