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Silent Disruptors: The Multifaceted Impact of Phthalates Across Aquatic Invertebrate and Vertebrate Taxa
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Phthalates — plastic additives found ubiquitously in the environment — induce reproductive toxicity, oxidative stress, immune impairment, neuroendocrine disruption, and transgenerational epigenetic effects across invertebrate and vertebrate taxa. This review directly implicates microplastic-associated phthalate leaching as a mechanism of broad ecological harm, emphasizing the need to include non-model taxa in regulatory risk assessments for plastic-derived chemical pollution.
Phthalic acid esters (PAEs) are ubiquitous pollutants with reported endocrine-disruption and multiplex toxic activities in a wide range of invertebrate and vertebrate animals. In the present review, the molecular and physiological effects of phthalate exposure on invertebrates, as well as less characterized vertebrates such as amphibians, reptiles, and mammals, are thoroughly examined. PAEs induce a series of adverse effects, such as reproductive toxicity, oxidative stress, immune system impairment, and neuroendocrine disruption. The effects can extensively vary depending on the species, developmental stage, and environmental conditions, ranging from impaired hormone signaling, developmental malformations, and thyroid impairment in amphibians and reptiles to lipid metabolism disturbances and epigenetic changes in mammals. This review will place particular emphasis on transgenerational effects, mixture toxicity, and chronic low-level exposure. By integrating evidence from in vivo, in vitro, and omics studies, this review defines areas of knowledge gaps and the necessity to integrate these taxa in integrated ecological risk assessments, as well as regulatory policy.
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Phthalate Esters in Aquatic Ecosystems: A Multiscale Threat from Molecular Disruption to Ecological Risks
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This review synthesizes how phthalate ester plasticizers propagate from molecular endocrine disruption and immunotoxicity through individual reproductive failure to ecosystem-level collapse, highlighting that high-molecular-weight PAEs undergo trophic dilution rather than biomagnification. The finding that phthalates drive bottom-up toxicity cascades that suppress energy transfer and simplify aquatic communities underscores the systemic ecological risks posed by plastic-associated chemical additives leaching from microplastics.
Consequences of Exposure to Phthalates, Micro Plastics and Nano-plastics on the Organisms
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This review summarizes the toxic effects of microplastics, polystyrene, and phthalate plasticizers (BPA, DBP, DEHP) on vertebrates and invertebrates. These chemicals enter organisms through food, water, and air, causing hormonal disruption, reproductive harm, and other health effects across a wide range of species.
A review of phathalates in water: A toxic threat to aquatic life
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Researchers reviewed the aquatic toxicity of phthalate ester plasticizers across microorganisms, algae, invertebrates, and fish, finding that lower-molecular-weight phthalates are the most harmful and that these ubiquitous plastic additives pose broad ecological risks to aquatic ecosystems.
Phthalate-induced effects in algae and fishes: insights into environmental toxicology
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This review of existing research found that phthalates—chemicals commonly found in plastics and personal care products—are harming fish and algae in waterways by disrupting their hormones, reproduction, and basic life processes. Since these chemicals build up in the food chain and we're exposed to them through contaminated water and seafood, this pollution could pose risks to human health too. The findings highlight the need for better regulations to limit phthalate pollution in our environment.
Review of the effects of two major plastic compounds in arthropods: a call for increased interdisciplinarity and further studies at the population level
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This review synthesizes evidence that two ubiquitous plastic chemicals — DEHP and BPA — disrupt biological functions in arthropods including development, reproduction, and behavior, while identifying major research gaps around endocrine disruption mechanisms, epigenetics, microbiome interactions, and population-level impacts in these ecologically critical invertebrates.
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