3-Nitrophenol in freshwater and marine water
Toxicant default guideline values for protecting aquatic ecosystems
October 2000
Extracted from Section 8.3.7 ‘Detailed descriptions of chemicals' of the ANZECC & ARMCANZ (2000) guidelines.
The default guideline values (previously known as ‘trigger values’) and associated information in this technical brief should be used in accordance with the detailed guidance provided in the Australian and New Zealand Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Water Quality.
Nitrophenols
Nitrophenols, as mono, di and tri-nitro derivatives of phenol, are used as dyes, pigments, pharmaceuticals, chemical intermediates, explosives and fungicides. Their major routes of entry to the aquatic environment are through the industrial effluents of production plants and chemical firms where these compounds are used as intermediates (CCREM 1987). Microbial degradation or photodegradation of compounds containing some form of nitrophenol may also release nitrophenols to the environment (USEPA 1980c).
Little information is available on the fate of nitrophenols in the aquatic environment. The few studies available on their biodegradation by natural communities of microorganisms indicate that nitrophenols appear to be more resistant to degradation than other phenols (CCREM 1987). Nitrophenols have low octanol-water partition coefficients and, therefore, bioaccumulation in most aquatic organisms is not expected to be significant (ANZECC 1992). The current analytical practical quantitation limit (PQL) for 2,4-dinitrophenol is 10 µg/L (NSW EPA 2000).
The five nitrophenols for which acute toxicity data in freshwater were available are 2,4-dinitro-6-methylphenol, 2,4-dinitrophenol, 4-nitrophenol, 2,4,6-trinitrophenol and 2-nitrophenol (listed in decreasing order of toxicity). Acute LC50s ranged upwards from 230 µg/L for bluegill exposed to 2,4-dinitro-6-methylphenol (USEPA 1980c, 1986).
The available acute toxicity data for saltwater species concerning 4-nitrophenol, 2,4-dinitrophenol and 2,4,6-trinitrophenol indicate that toxicity occurs at concentrations as low as 2100 µg/L (USEPA 1980c, 1986). No data were available regarding chronic toxicity to freshwater and saltwater aquatic organisms (USEPA 1986).
Description of chemical
3-nitrophenol (CAS 554-84-7)
Aquatic toxicology
Freshwater fish: one species, Aphlocheilus latipes, 48-hour LC50, 1300 µg/L.
Guideline
A freshwater low reliability trigger value of 1 µg/L was derived for 3-NP using an assessment factor (AF) of 1000. In the absence of sufficient marine data for 3-NP, this figure was adopted as a low reliability marine trigger value. Both figures should be used as indicative interim working levels only.
References
ANZECC & ARMCANZ 2000. Australian and New Zealand Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Water Quality, Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council and Agriculture and Resource Management Council of Australia and New Zealand, Canberra.
ANZECC 1992. Water quality guidelines for fresh and marine waters. Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.
CCREM 1987. Canadian water quality guidelines. Canadian Council of Resource and Environment Ministers, Ontario.
NSW EPA 2000. Analytical Chemistry Section, Table of Trigger Values 20 March 2000, LD33/11, Lidcombe, NSW.
USEPA 1980c. Ambient water quality criteria for nitrophenols. Criteria and Standards Division, US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington DC. EPA-440/5-80-063.
USEPA 1986. Quality criteria for water. US Department of Commerce, National Technical Information Service, US Environmental Protection Agency, Springfield, Virginia. PB87-226759, EPA 440/5 86-001.
