Development of aquatic life criteria for tonalide (AHTN) and the ecological risk assessment

Abstract AHTN (tonalide) is a polycyclic musk that is widely used as fragrance additive in numerous consumer products. AHTN is of great worldwide concern owing to its adverse effects on aquatic organisms and frequent detection in both domestic and foreign aquatic environments. Therefore, derivation of the aquatic life criteria for AHTN exposure is urgently needed. In this work, AHTN toxicity data for eight Chinese native freshwater organisms were used to derive a criterion maximum concentration of 59.39 μg/L and a criterion continuous concentration of 22.43 μg/L using United States Environmental Protection Agency guidelines. Toxicity tests showed that the annelid L. hoffmeisteri and the amphibian R. nigromaculata were the least and most sensitive species to AHTN, respectively. The sensitivity of the planktonic crustacean D. magna to AHTN obviously differed from that of the benthic crustacean M. nipponense. The AHTN and HHCB correlation analysis exhibited a strong positive linear correlation (R2 = 0.8622) in water. The ecological risk assessment showed that AHTN and HHCB posed a higher risk in foreign surface waters than Chinese waters, but a lower risk in foreign wastewater treatment plant effluent than in China. The ecological risks of AHTN and HHCB in most surveyed water bodies of various countries were at acceptable levels, with a few exceptions.