Triphenyl phosphate / published under the joint sponsorship of the United Nations Environment Programme, the International Labour Organisation, and the World Health Organization

Evaluates risks to human health and the environment posed by the production and use of triphenyl phosphate, a compound widely used as a flame retardant in phenolic and phenylene-oxide-based resins for the manufacture of electrical and automobile components. Triphenyl phosphate is also used as a non-flammable plasticizer in cellulose acetate for photographic films, and as a component of hydraulic fluids and lubricant oils. Main sources of release into the environment are identified as leakage or spills of hydraulic fluid, leaching from plastics, and manufacturing processes. A review of data on effects on organisms in the environment concentrates on risks to the aquatic environment, concluding that triphenyl phosphate is the most acutely toxic of te various triaryl phosphates to fish, shrimp, and daphnids. The remaining sections evaluate toxic effects as determined through studies in experimental models and observations in humans. The book notes that triphenyl phosphate exhibits low toxicity in short-term studies, is not mutagenic, and has not been shown, in several well-designed studies, to cause delayed neuropathy or other neurotoxic changes. Studies of exposed workers found no evidence of neurological disease or other abnormalities. Risks to the environment are likewise judged to be low, though spills of hydraulic fluid could result in fish kills