Toxic Effects of Fragrances to Aquatic Organisms

This review of the acute and chronic toxicity of fragrances to aquatic organisms indicates that exposures to environmentally relevant concentrations of most of these compounds should not be acutely toxic. However, the chapter indicates that there are some fragrance compounds, such as Karanal, Ambermax, and 2-methyl-undecanal that warrant further studies to evaluate the risks to aquatic organisms. In addition, for the widely used polycyclic synthetic musk, HHCB, there is evidence that exposures of fish and aquatic invertebrates at certain concentrations can induce sublethal responses, such as endocrine disruption. There is also a clear need for studies of acute and chronic toxicity from exposures of aquatic organisms to other classes of fragrances besides the synthetic musks, and these toxicity studies should be linked to monitoring of the concentrations in the aquatic environment so that robust ecological risk assessments can be conducted.