Toxicity of a phthalate ester in the diet of a penaied shrimp.

The toxicity of di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), a ubiquitous environmental pollutant, was measured experimentally as a contaminant in shrimp aquaculture feeds. Diets containing 40 to 50,000 ppm DEHP were fed to Penaeus vannamei for 14 d at 4% body weight/d. DEHP concentrations in shrimp, diet, and water were measured by electron-capture gas chromatography. Whole-body residues in shrimp were 18 ppm at the highest dose, and bioconcentration factors were inversely proportional to dose. DEHP in water was less than or equal to 1.7 ppb for all dose levels. No increased mortality or histopathological alterations were observed at any dose. Absorption of DEHP by P. vannamei was measured in static 24- and 96-h bioassays. Diets enriched with [14C]DEHP to levels of 60, 600, and 6000 ppm were fed at 2% body weight/d. At all dose levels, 3.7% of total radioactivity was measured as body burden in shrimp and 40% as polar species in test water after 96 h. DEHP by oral administration was absorbed, metabolized, and excreted, and this process was linear with dose for the dose range studied.