Environmental Risk Assessment of Dinoseb in Freshwater, Sediment, and Soil Media in Korea

Dinoseb has been banned from use as a pesticide due to concerns about its environmental persistence and toxicity, but it is still used in the chemical industry as an inhibitor of styrene polymerization. In the present study, the potential risks of dinoseb in freshwater, sediments, and soil media in Korea were assessed based on conservative exposure scenario. Acute and chronic toxicity data for aquatic organisms were collected to derive predicted no effect concentration (PNEC_water). Due to the lack of toxicity data for sediment and soil organisms, PNEC_sediment and PNEC_soil were derived using the equilibrium partitioning method based on PNEC_water. Environmental concentrations were estimated using SimpleBox Korea model. The PNEC_water, PNEC_sediment, and PNEC_soil were 0.00145 mg/L, 0.0167 mg/kg dry weight, and 0.00242 mg/kg dry weight, respectively. PECs at regional scales were lower than PNEC, but HQ exceeded 1 at one local site. Soil samples near high-risk worksites were analyzed at two different time points to measure dinoseb concentrations. Dinoseb was found to be below the limit of quantification, indicating that, within the scope of the available data and assessment conditions, the current environmental risk of dinoseb is expected to be low, although continued monitoring is warranted.