Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) is a plasticizer in a variety of consumer products. High consumption and high dispersal of DEHP has been caused, much attention has been given to the finding that PAEs adversely toxicity affects. Today, the use of the Fish Embryo Test (FET) method is widely used in toxicology. The zebrafish embryo toxicity test has been proposed as an alternative for the acute fish toxicity test. The aim of the this study was to determine the acute toxicity of Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate to assess lethal and sublethal endpoint and anomalies effects on zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryo 5 days post-fertilization (dpf) with FET method. Zebrafish embryos (3 hours post-fertilization) were exposed to different concentrations of DEHP (0.05, 5, 20, 35, 50 and 100 µg/l) for 120 h, then, lethal and sub-letahl endpoints of embryos evaluated and data were evaluated with Probit software. The LC50, NOEC and LOEC values obtained for DEHP were 46.14, 12.08 and 22.06 µg/l, respectively. Also, There were also abnormalities including coagulation of the embryo, lack of somite formation, non-detachment of the tail bud from the yolk sac, malformation of tail and lack of heartbeat in the embryos. This study showed that DEHP is a teratogenic pollutants and the application of FET method as an alternative method for developmental toxicity tests to predict effects of emerging pollutants on aquatic organisms.
