摘要：Phthalates are the most common form of plasticizers. Due to the ease with which phthalates diffusefrom their plastics and the sheer volume of plastics that have been introduced to the environment, theyrepresent one of the most ubiquitous and persistent chemicals known. Phthalates are known to haveseveral toxic effects. The study was carried out to identify the phthalates found in the urban dusts thathave accumulated from underneath the LRT1 stations at Monumento, R. Papa, and EDSA in MetroManila, and to determine their embryotoxic potential. The urban dust samples were subjected to solidphase extraction (SPE) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Six phthalates wereidentified, and the extract was then used in the zebrafish embryo toxicity (ZFET) test. Lethal andsublethal end points were observed in the zebrafish embryos. Low dilutions were found to be highlyembryo toxic and a dose-response relationship was seen in dilutions ranging from 1:4 to 1:40. The LC 50of the phthalate mixture was also obtained and found to be 9.188 µg/mL. This study elucidated someof the toxic effects of the phthalates, but further studies must be performed to evaluate the toxicity ofthe individual phthalates, some of whose effects are relatively unknown.
