Tetrahydrothiophene 1,1-dioxide

Adsorption / desorption

Description of key information

A Kd for sulfolane of 0.045 L/kg at 22°C for soils/aquifer materials is considered the key result for sulfolane. This was calculated as the average of 3 soils, where the Kds were log transformed before averaging (Luther et al. 1998).

Key value for chemical safety assessment

Koc at 20 °C:

3.35

Other adsorption coefficients

Type:

other: Kd

Value in L/kg:

0.045

at the temperature of:

22 °C

Additional information

A QSAR prediction for sulfolane shows a low potential for adsorption with an estimated Koc of 3.37. Measured Koc values for sulfolane were slightly higher in the range 12.33 -176 but still do not suggest strong adsorption to soils (Saint Fort 2006). Saint Fort (2006) reports partition coefficients (Kd) for sulfolane in the range 0.3-1.23 at 8°C while Luther et al. (1998) reports Kd values for sulfolane of between 0.008 and 0.94 L/kg at 22°C

with higher Kd values for clay soils rather than humus based soils. A Kd value of 0.045 L/kg for soils/aquifer materials is considered the key result for sulfolane. This was calculated as the average of 3 soils, where the Kds were log transformed before averaging (Luther et al. 1998). The reported Kd values suggest that sulfolane will not adsorb to soils and this is consistent with its low Log Kow and reported high water solubility.