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Ecotoxicity studies of the levulinate ester series

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Abstract

The increasing interest in the development of novel green solvents has led to the synthesis of benign alternative products with minimized environmental impacts. However, most of published studies on green solvents focus primarily on their physicochemical properties, with limited emphasis on absence of ecotoxicological assessment. In this study, we evaluated the acute ecotoxicity of four levulinates (levulinic acid, methyl levulinate, ethyl levulinate and butyl levulinate) on freshwater algae (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii), bacteria (Vibrio fischeri), daphnids (Daphnia magna) and earthworms (Eisenia foetida) using various dose–response tests. As a general trend, the toxicity of levulinate esters in aquatic exposure (assessed as the EC50) increased as a function of increasing alkyl chain length; accordingly, the most toxic compound for the aquatic organisms was butyl levulinate, followed by ethyl levulinate and methyl levulinate. The most toxic compound for E. foetida (terrestrial exposure) was methyl levulinate, followed by ethyl levulinate, butyl levulinate and levulinic acid; in this case, we observed an inverse relationship between toxicity and alkyl chain length. Based on both the lowest EC50 found in the aquatic media and the ratio between predicted environmental concentration and the predicted no-effect concentration, we have estimated the maximum allowable values in the environment for these chemicals to be 1.093 mg L−1 for levulinic acid, 2.761 mg L−1 for methyl levulinate, 0.982 mg L−1 for ethyl levulinate and 0.151 mg L−1 for butyl levulinate.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Imerys Ceramics España, S.A. for providing artificial soil for the earthworm tests. The researchers L. Lomba, B. Giner and Ma. Rosa Pino are supported by the regional Aragon Government (Consolidated Applied Research Group ref. E02) and European Social Fund “Construyendo Europa desde Aragón”. The work of S. Muñiz and E. Navarro is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (National Research Plan, ref. BFU2010-22053) and by the regional Aragon Government (Consolidated Applied Research Group ref. E61). Furthermore, Green Pharmacy acknowledges financial support from EEE53 SL. Business groups: Pinares de Venecia División Energética and Brial (ENATICA). Finally, we want to thank Dr. Manuel Gómez (Universidad San Jorge) both for his kind help and for having provided us with useful information.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad San Jorge, Villanueva de Gállego, 50830, Zaragoza, Spain

    Laura Lomba, Ma. Rosa Pino & Beatriz Giner

  2. Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología (CSIC), Av. Montañana 1005, 50059, Zaragoza, Spain

    Selene Muñiz & Enrique Navarro

Authors
  1. Laura Lomba
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  2. Selene Muñiz
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  3. Ma. Rosa Pino
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  4. Enrique Navarro
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  5. Beatriz Giner
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Correspondence to Beatriz Giner.

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Lomba, L., Muñiz, S., Pino, M.R. et al. Ecotoxicity studies of the levulinate ester series. Ecotoxicology 23, 1484–1493 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-014-1290-y

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