Abstract: | As the substituted fragrances, synthetic musks are widely used in the personal care products industry. Due to the continuous input to environment, some typical synthetic musks such as Galaxolide and Tonalide are being increased in water, soil and air, and have been accumulated in tissues of animals and human beings. As a result, the presence of synthetic musks in environment was just like persist organic pollutants (POPs). Therefore, synthetic musks have been considered as emerging organic pollutants in the pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) pollution. In this paper, the types and application situation of synthetic musks and their environmental sources and pollution levels were briefly introduced. Then, the behavior properties of synthetic musks as POPs were analyzed on the basis of their biological accumulation, environmental degradation and biological transformation. Some visible adverse ecological effects including environmental hormone toxicity, genetic toxic effects, and physiological ecotoxicity of synthetic musks, and their influences on enzymatic activity, and their toxic effects on microorganisms were also summarized. At last, in terms of the researching advancement of synthetic musks at present, main environmental research contents related to synthetic musks are suggested so that to provide theoretical bases for the reasonable assessment and effective reduce of the ecological risks caused by synthetic musks. |