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Environmental fate & pathways

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The Mackay primary distribution model indicates that 99.7% will be found in the atmosphere with 0.25% in water and approximately 0.01% in soils and sediment. Trichloroethane is a man made material and does not occur naturally in nature therefore concentrations would be expected to be highest in places were it is manufactured or used. The EU 1988 report states that a total of 6% of production is released into the environment (it should be noted that this was before the extensive bans on existing uses implemented under the Montreal protocol came into force). Of the 6% approximately 0.2 to 0.3% are released at the point of manufacture and the remainder was thought to find its way into waste water primarily as a result of uses such as metal cleaning. As many of these uses have now been restricted and registration is only sought for use as a transport of intermediate the 1988 estimates are now probably excessively high.