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Environmental fate & pathways

Endpoint summary

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Additional information

Information on the substance itself is limited to a single, poorly documented, study of inherent biodegradation. A large number of degradation tests are available for EDTA and its salts, a structural analogue of the substance (for justification on read-across, see Section 13). Results from OECD guideline tests indicate that EDTA is not readily biodegradable and tests on inherent biodegradability result in low biodegradation rates.

For EDTA, and by analogy HEDTA, it has been shown that, under slightly alkaline conditions or adaptation, biodegradability is considerably improved. EDTA was >60% biodegradable in an enhanced test using pre-adapted activated sludge. Therefore, it can be concluded that the substance is ultimately biodegradable under such conditions.