Keywords: 
• musk xylene /
• Danio rerio /
• Gobiocypris rarus /
• dietary exposure bioaccumulation /
• gas chromatography-mass spectrometry series method /
• depuration rate constant /
• assimilation /
• dietary biomagnification factor(BMF_k)

Abstract: Musk xylene (MX) is a synthetic musk fragrance ingredient with strong odor characteristics used as fixative principally in cosmetics and soaps. Because of its continuous input to environment, the concentrations of MX was increasing in water, soil and air, and concentrated in animals and human tissues. Its accumulative effect was equivalent to that of persistent organic pollutants such as organo-chlorine pesticides (OCPs). It was necessary to study the bioaccumulation of MX in fishes. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) and rare minnow (Gobiocypris rarus) were fed with MX-containing chow (0, 50 and 100 mg MX/kg fish feed) for 14 days followed by 28 days of clean food. The concentrations of MX in zebrafish and rare minnow were measured by accelerated solvent extraction (ASE), gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrom-etry (GC-MS), and then the deputation ability of fish to MX was evaluated. The more MX content in diets, the higher MX concentration was found in fishes, e.g., the MX in fishes of 100 mg·kg^-1 was two or three times as high as that of 50 mg·kg^-1. A positive linear relationship was observed between the MX concentration in fishes and body weight of fishes, however, the body fat content was not related to the MX concentra tion in fishes. After depuration for 28 days, the levels of MX in fishes were close to zero, implying that zebrafish and rare minnow have a strong ability to depurate MX.