[2-(1-ethoxyethoxy)ethyl]benzene

Endpoint summary

Description of key information

General discussion of environmental fate and pathways

Abiotic degradation

Air: Based on estimation with the QSAR model Aopwin the substance undergoes in air rapid degradation after reaction with hydroxyl radicals. The DT50 value after reaction with hydroxyl radicals is 4.5 hours. No reaction with ozone was estimated. Based on the half-life with hydroxyl radicals, the substance will not reach the stratosphere and is therefore not considered to be a long-range transported chemical in air. The substance does not have an ozone depletion potential because it does not contain halogens and does not have the potential to reach the stratosphere EU CLP (EC No. 1272/2008 and its amendments).

Water: The substance is hydrolytically stable at pH 9 (half-life time at 25°C of > 1 year), hydrolytically unstable at pH 7 (half-life time at 25°C of 55 days) and hydrolytically less stable at pH 4 (half-life time at 25°C of 2.0 hours) in an OECD TG 111 study (under GLP). The half-life under environmental conditions is therefore 55 days. This is in line with what is expected because acetals hydrolyse at low pH but less so or not at higher pH.

Biotic degradation

Hyacinth body is not ready biodegradable (52% biodegradation) and not persistent (71% biodegradation) based on read across to Hyacinth body #3 (CAS no. 7493-57-4) in the Closed Bottle test.

Bioaccumulation

Based on the log Kow of 3.5 it can be concluded that the substance has limited bioaccumulation potential with calculated BCF values for aquatic and terrestrial organisms of 188 and 38.8 L/kg, respectively.

Transport and distribution

The adsorption potential of the substance was determined in a study according to OECD TG 121 (HPLC method). Under the conditions of the test, the log Koc of the substance was determined at 2.5 (equivalent Koc = 290 L/kg). Based on this value it may be concluded that the substance has a low potential for adsorption to solid surfaces and soil (logKoc < 3).

A Henry's law constant of 0.672 Pa·m³/mol (at 12 °C) was calculated in EUSES (Vap pressure 3.1 Pa (24°C) , 194.3 molecular weight and 453 mg/l water solubility (24°C). Based on this value the substance has limited potential to partition from water to air.

Based on Level III environmental distribution modelling using EPISUITE (assuming equal and continuous releases to air, water and soil) using the CAS number 2556 -10 -7, it is estimated that the majority of the substance released to the environment will partition mainly into soil (79.1%) and water (20.2%) with small amounts to air (0.43%) and sediment (0.3%).

The SimpleTreat model simulates the distribution of the substance in a Sewage Treatment Plant. Model calculations (default assumptions, local) show that 0% of the substance will be degraded and that 95.3%, 3.48%, and 1.26% will partition to water, sludge and air, respectively.