Effects of ethylene glycol ethers on the reproduction of Ceriodaphnia dubia

Seven-day static renewal tests with Ceriodaphnia dubia were used to document the chronic toxicity of ethylene glycol ethers and acetates to this invertebrate. The 7-d EC10 (effective concentrations inducing an inhibition of 10% of the reproduction of the tested organisms) values ranged from 0.06 to 1025 mg/l. While a survey of the literature showed that the acute toxicity of these chemicals appeared negligible, our results clearly revealed the potential chronic effects of some of them to this organism occupying an important trophic level in the aquatic ecosystems. The usefulness of this kind of test to better estimate the adverse effects of glycol ethers was stressed.