Registration Dossier

Data platform availability banner - registered substances factsheets

Please be aware that this old REACH registration data factsheet is no longer maintained; it remains frozen as of 19th May 2023.

The new ECHA CHEM database has been released by ECHA, and it now contains all REACH registration data. There are more details on the transition of ECHA's published data to ECHA CHEM here.

Diss Factsheets

Environmental fate & pathways

Biodegradation in soil

Currently viewing:

Administrative data

Link to relevant study record(s)

Description of key information

Key value for chemical safety assessment

Additional information

The biodegradation in soil was investigated according to US EPA 162-1 (ABC Laboratories 32734). Defined sediment (loamy sand) was placed into a metabolism vessel; the sediment was dosed at 10 ppm to get 5.0 mg of 14C-glutaraldehyde. The vessel was placed within an environmental control chamber maintained under dark conditions at an average temperature of 25 +/-1°C. The measurements of radioactivity were based on liquid scintillation counting (LSC), thin layer chromatography (TLC) and gas liquid chromatography (GLC).

The total 14C-residues of glutaraldehyde in soil decreased exponentially from day 0 to day 21, reaching 40% of the initial dose; the residues percentage remained constant at 40% from day 21 to the end of the experimental period. The extractable 14C-residues were 25% of the initial dose on day 0 and decreased to 2% by day 3 to 7; thereafter, these residues remained < 2% until the end of the experimental period. The bound 14C-residues ranged from 76 to 121% of total 14C-residues throughout the experimental period. Thin layer chromatography revealed that about 20% of the extracted radioactivity at day 0 was due to the parent compound glutaraldehyde. Up to day 3 and, no parent compound could be identified; however, on day 7, TLC again showed that about 20% of extracted radioactivity was due to the parent compound. A half-life of 1.7 days was calculated.

In conclusion, the DT50 of 1.7 days indicates that glutaraldehyde is rapidly degraded in soil by microbial biotransformation under aerobic conditions. Moreover, glutaraldehyde was shown to be readily biodegradable within several studies. Therefore, a persistence of glutaraldehyde in soil is unlikely.