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Environmental fate & pathways

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Concerning environmental fate and pathways no study results are available.

A hydrolysis study is technically not feasible as the test substance is highly insoluble in water.

'Activated carbon' is a refractory material and not amenable to break down by any natural chemical or enzymatic processes. AC is only broken down under extreme conditions - such as heating under reflux with concentrated sulphuric acid/nitric acid mixtures - when the carbon will eventually oxidise to CO2. Activated carbon cannot be rendered into a soluble form capable of being absorbed. Therefore activated carbon cannot find its way to any cell site where it could conceivably be biodegraded. Moreover, testing is not feasible because the substance is not soluble in water.

A bioaccumulation study is technically not feasible as the substance has a low potential for bioaccumulation because the substance has no log Kow (substance is an inorganic substance or can be considered to behave as an inorganic substance). Also the substance size will hamper passing membranes as the substance consists of particles with sizes > 0.3 µm. The particles are not soluble in water.

Adsoprtion/desorption studies are technically not feasible as the substance is not soluble in water or in organic solvents; and analysis is not possible because no distinction between C of AC and C of sediment/soil can be made in the analysis. Furthermore activated carbon consists largely of elemental carbon and is chemically inert. No further biodegradation will occur.

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