Toxicity of butylbenzyl phthalate (BBP) and other phthalate esters to nervous tissue in culture.

Butylbenzyl phthalate (BBP) and n-butyl lauryl phthalate (BLP) markedly inhibited the outgrowth of nerve fibers and glial cells from cerebellar explants of newborn rat in primary culture at concentrations of 7.0 and 12.5 x 10(-4) M, respectively. The toxicity of butyl phthalyl butyl glycolate (BPBG) was not significant. From these results the order of toxicity of these three phthalate esters was determined as BBP > BLP > BPBG.