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

The toxicity of di-2-ethylhexylphthalate (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. Who!e-body residues in shrimp were 18 ppm at the highest dose, and bioconcentration factors were inversely proportional to dose. DEHP in water was <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 [^l4C]DEHP to levels of 60, 600, and 6000 ppm were fed at 2% body weightjd. At all dose levels, 3.7% of total radioactivity was measured os 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.