Acute Toxicity and Ecological Risk Assessment of Benzophenone and N,N-Diethyl-3 Methylbenzamide in Personal Care Products

Benzophenone (BP) andN,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide (DEET) are two chemicals often used in personal care products (PCPs). There is a lack of systematic ecotoxicological evaluations about the two chemicals to aquatic organisms. In the present study, the acute toxic effects onChlorella vulgaris,Daphnia Magana, andBrachydanio reriowere tested and the ecotoxicological risks were evaluated. For BP, the 96-h half-maximal effective concentration (EC50) onC. vulgariswas 6.86 mg/L; the 24-h median lethal concentration (LC50) onD. maganawas 7.63 mg/L; the 96-h LC50onB. reriowas 14.73 mg/L. For DEET, those were 270.72 mg/L, 40.74 mg/L, and 109.67 mg/L, respectively. The mixture toxicity of BP and DEET, onC. vulgaris,D. magana, andB. rerioall showed an additive effect. The induced predicted no-effect concentrations (PNECs) for BP and DEET by assessment factor (AF) method are 0.003 mg/L and 0.407 mg/L, respectively. Both are lower than the concentrations detected from environment at present, verifying that BP and DEET are low-risk chemicals to the environment.