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EC number: 231-149-1 | CAS number: 7440-39-3
- Life Cycle description
- Uses advised against
- Endpoint summary
- Appearance / physical state / colour
- Melting point / freezing point
- Boiling point
- Density
- Particle size distribution (Granulometry)
- Vapour pressure
- Partition coefficient
- Water solubility
- Solubility in organic solvents / fat solubility
- Surface tension
- Flash point
- Auto flammability
- Flammability
- Explosiveness
- Oxidising properties
- Oxidation reduction potential
- Stability in organic solvents and identity of relevant degradation products
- Storage stability and reactivity towards container material
- Stability: thermal, sunlight, metals
- pH
- Dissociation constant
- Viscosity
- Additional physico-chemical information
- Additional physico-chemical properties of nanomaterials
- Nanomaterial agglomeration / aggregation
- Nanomaterial crystalline phase
- Nanomaterial crystallite and grain size
- Nanomaterial aspect ratio / shape
- Nanomaterial specific surface area
- Nanomaterial Zeta potential
- Nanomaterial surface chemistry
- Nanomaterial dustiness
- Nanomaterial porosity
- Nanomaterial pour density
- Nanomaterial photocatalytic activity
- Nanomaterial radical formation potential
- Nanomaterial catalytic activity
- Endpoint summary
- Stability
- Biodegradation
- Bioaccumulation
- Transport and distribution
- Environmental data
- Additional information on environmental fate and behaviour
- Ecotoxicological Summary
- Aquatic toxicity
- Endpoint summary
- Short-term toxicity to fish
- Long-term toxicity to fish
- Short-term toxicity to aquatic invertebrates
- Long-term toxicity to aquatic invertebrates
- Toxicity to aquatic algae and cyanobacteria
- Toxicity to aquatic plants other than algae
- Toxicity to microorganisms
- Endocrine disrupter testing in aquatic vertebrates – in vivo
- Toxicity to other aquatic organisms
- Sediment toxicity
- Terrestrial toxicity
- Biological effects monitoring
- Biotransformation and kinetics
- Additional ecotoxological information
- Toxicological Summary
- Toxicokinetics, metabolism and distribution
- Acute Toxicity
- Irritation / corrosion
- Sensitisation
- Repeated dose toxicity
- Genetic toxicity
- Carcinogenicity
- Toxicity to reproduction
- Specific investigations
- Exposure related observations in humans
- Toxic effects on livestock and pets
- Additional toxicological data
Ecotoxicological Summary
Administrative data
Hazard for aquatic organisms
Freshwater
- Hazard assessment conclusion:
- PNEC aqua (freshwater)
- PNEC value:
- 114.7 µg/L
Marine water
- Hazard assessment conclusion:
- no data: aquatic toxicity unlikely
STP
- Hazard assessment conclusion:
- PNEC STP
- PNEC value:
- 62.2 mg/L
- Assessment factor:
- 10
Sediment (freshwater)
- Hazard assessment conclusion:
- PNEC sediment (freshwater)
- PNEC value:
- 598.9 mg/kg sediment dw
- Assessment factor:
- 1
- Extrapolation method:
- equilibrium partitioning method
Sediment (marine water)
- Hazard assessment conclusion:
- no hazard identified
Hazard for air
Air
- Hazard assessment conclusion:
- no hazard identified
Hazard for terrestrial organisms
Soil
- Hazard assessment conclusion:
- PNEC soil
- PNEC value:
- 207.7 mg/kg soil dw
- Assessment factor:
- 2
Hazard for predators
Secondary poisoning
- Hazard assessment conclusion:
- no potential for bioaccumulation
Additional information
Assessment Entity Approach: In the assessment of the environmental fate and behaviour of barium substances, the Barium ion assessment entity is identified as the moiety of toxicological concern. Following this reasoning, introduced in section 0.4, the potentially bioavailable metal ion (i.e., Ba2+) is assessed as investigated in the existing BaCl2 REACH Dossier. This dossier too is based on the fact Ba2+ is the toxic entity that needs to be assessed.
As reported in the BaCl2 dossier, dissolution of barium substances in the environment and corresponding dissolved Ba levels are controlled by the solubility of barite (BaSO4) and witherite (BaCO3), two naturally occurring barium minerals (Ball and Nordstrom 1991; Menzie et al, 2008), and the concentration of dissolved Ba cations in freshwater is rather low. However, in the dissolved state, the divalent barium cation, is the predominant form in soil, sediments and water. The solubility of barium compounds increases as solution pH decreases (US EPA, 1985a). Nevertheless, the speciation of barium in the environment is considered to be rather simple (USEPA 2005):
- Barium cations are not readily oxidized or reduced
- Barium cations do not bind strongly to most inorganic ligands or organic matter
Barium in soils is not expected to be very mobile because of the formation of water-insoluble salts (sulphate and carbonate) and its inability to form soluble complexes with humic and fulvic materials. Under acid conditions, however, some of the water-insoluble barium compounds may become soluble and move into ground water (US EPA, 1984).
In sum, transport, fate, and toxicity of barium in the environment are largely controlled by the solubility of barium minerals. The barium cation is the moiety of toxicological concern, and thus the hazard assessment is based on Ba2+.
US EPA (1985a) Health advisory — barium. Washington, DC, US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Drinking Water.
US EPA (1984) Health effects assessment for barium,Cincinnati, Ohio, US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Health and Environmental
Assessment, Environmental Criteria and Assessment Office (Prepared for the Office of Emergency and Remedial Responsible, Washington, DC) (EPA 540/1-86-021).
PNEC marine water:
A relevant PNEC for the marine environment cannot be determined, for the following reasons:
(i) Barium levels in sea water range from 2 to 63 μg/L with a mean concentration of about 13 μg/L (Bowen 1979).
(ii) Applying ECHA-guidance, the derived marine PNEC of 11.5 μg/L for barium (PNEC freshwater = 0.115 mg Ba/L and an AF of 100) would thus be within the range of typical barium seawater levels.
(iii) Seawater contains about 2700 mg/L sulfate (Hitchcock, 1975 cited in WHO, 2004).
(iv) Barium transported into marine systems combines with sulfate ions present in salt water to form barium sulfate.
(v) Barium in marine environments is in a steady state; the amount entering is balanced by the amount falling to the bottom as barium sulfate (barite) particles to form a permanent part of the marine sediment (Wolgemuth & Brocker, 1970). Thus, dissolved barium concentrations are controlled by the solubility of barium sulfate. The solubility product (Ksp) of barium sulfate is 1.08E-10(CRC Handbook, 2008), resulting in maximum dissolved Ba levels of approximately 1.4 mg/L.
(vi) In sum, due to high sulfate levels in the marine environment and a low solubility of barium sulfate, dissolved barium levels will remain constant in marine waters, regardless of the amount of barium introduced to the system.
References:
Bowen HMJ (1979) Environmental Chemistry of the Elements. Academic Press, London, 333 pp.
Lide, D.R. (2008) CRC Handbook of chemistry and physics. 88thedition.
Hitchcock DR (1975) Biogenic contributions to atmospheric sulphate levels. In: Proceedings of the 2nd National Conference on Complete Water Re-use. Chicago, IL, American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
WHO (1990) Barium. Environmental Health Criteria 107. International Programme on Chemical Safety.
WHO (2004) Sulfate in Drinking-water. Background document for development of WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality. WHO/SDE/WSH/03.04/114.
Wolgemuth K & Broecker WS (1970) Barium in sea water. Earth planet. Sci. Lett., 8: 372-378.
PNEC sediment:
The PNECsedimentcan be derived from the PNECaquaticusing the equilibrium partitioning method (EPM).
A distribution/partition coefficient (KD) between the water and sediment compartment for barium has been determined (see chapter 4). This resulted in a typical KD, susp-waterof 5,217 L/kg (logKD: 3.72). In a first step the units have to be converted from L/kg to m3/m3using the formula below.
KD, susp-water(m3/m3) = 0.9 + [0.1 x (KD, susp-water(L/kg) x 2,500) / 1,000]
This results in a KD, sedimentof 1,305 m3/m3. This value can be entered in the equation below to calculate the PNECsediment:
PNECsediment= (KD, susp-water/ RHOsusp) x PNECaquaticx 1,000
with the PNECaquaticexpressed as mg/L, RHOsusprepresenting the bulk density of wet suspended matter (freshly deposited sediment) (1,150 kg/m3), and a KD, susp-waterof 1,305 m3/m3, a PNECsedimentthat is expressed as mg/kg wet weight can be derived. This value can be converted to a dry weight-based PNEC, using a conversion factor of 4.6 (CONVsusp = RHOsusp/Fsolid-susp * RHOsolid) kg wet weight/ kg dry weight.
This results in aPNECsediment of 600 mg Ba/kg dry sediment corresponding to 908 mg BaCl2/kg dry sediment.
PNEC soil:
Derivation of a PNEC for the terrestrial compartment according to the assessment factor method resulted in a PNEC well below typical background levels for the majority of EU-countries. Therefore a more relevant PNEC was derived based on reported baseline levels of Ba in EU top soil samples. The outlier cut-off level for Ba baseline levels (i.e., 415.7 µg/L) was used as a starting point. A factor of two was applied to the cut-off level and a PNEC soil of 207.7 mg Ba/kg dry wt is derived and considered as a reliable, provisional PNEC for the terrestrial compartment. For more information please refer to the CSR.
PNEC for sewage treatment plant:
In general, an AF of 10 is to be applied to the NOEC/EC10of a sludge respiration test, reflecting the lower sensitivity of this endpoint as compared to nitrification, as well as the short duration of the test. The corresponding AF is 100 when based on the EC50. The PNECmicro-organismis set equal to a NOEC (AF = 1) for a test performed with specific bacterial populations such as nitrifying bacteria,P. putida, ciliated protozoa, the Shk1 Assay. An EC50from this test is divided by an AF of 10 to derive thePNECmicro-organism. No AF is needed to derive a PNECmicro-organismbased on good quality field data.
The lowest reliable observed NOEC/EC10-value for respiration (inhibition of respiration after a 3h incubation period) using activated sludge was ≥943.1 mg BaCl2/L. Based on the guidance given in the RIP3.2 (ECHA, 2008) and the TGD (2003), an assessment factor of 10 should be used on this value, as respiration is the endpoint.
Application of an assessment factor of 10 on this value of 943.1 mg BaCl2/L, results in a PNECmicro-organismof 94.3 mg BaCl2/L.
PNECoral(secondary poisoning):
No avian toxicity data are available
- Data from an NTP (1994) study resulted in NOAELs for rats ranging between 61 and 115 mg Ba/kg/d, depending on the exposure period (13 wk, 2 yr). Evaluated endpoints were renal and cardiovascular effects.
- Data from an NTP (1994) study resulted in NOAELs for mice ranging between 61 and 115 mg Ba/kg/d, depending on the exposure period (13 wk, 2 yr). Evaluated endpoints were renal and cardiovascular effects.
- A 13 wk reproduction study with rat and mice (Dietz et al, 1992), resulted in a NOAEL of 200 mg Ba/kg/d for both test species.
According to ECHA-Guidance (ECHA, 2008: Chapter R.10 – Dose (concentration)-response regarding environment) a NOECmammalcan be derived from a NOAELmammal,using the following formula:
NOECmammal_food_chronic= NOAELmammal_food_chronic x CONVmammal
with CONVmammala species-specific conversion factor. The conversion factor for rats is 10-20, depending on the age of the test organisms.
As endpoints like mortality, growth and reproduction are strongly preferred for the derivation PNECoral, the value of 200 mg/kg bw/d (NOAELreproductionfor rats and mice) was used as reference value for the derivation of a PNECoral.
The age of the test organisms was not specified; therefore a conversion factor of 10 kg bw.d/kg food
NOECmammal_food_chronic= 200 mg /kg bw/d * 10 kg bw.d/kgfood= 2000 mg Ba/kgfood
The PNECoralthat can be derived from this NOEC-value by applying an adequate assessment factor on the NOEC. An assessment factor of 90 is required when a 90d-NOEC for mammals is used as reference value. An estimated PNECoralfor barium would be 2000 mg Ba/kg food / 90 = 22.2 mg/kg food
It should be noted that, according to the ECHA technical guidance on environmental hazard assessment, ‘if a substance has a bioaccumulation potential and a low degradability, it is necessary to consider whether the substance also has the potential to cause toxic effects if accumulated in higher organisms.’ It further states that the assessment of secondary poisoning takes place as a tiered process, where the first step is to evaluate the bioaccumulative potential of a substance, following the criterion that if BCF ≥ 100 (together with considerations regarding biodegradability). When this criterion is met, the subsequent step to calculate a PNECoral,predator is needed.
As barium does not meet this requirement, no PNECoral,predatoris required for this substance.
Barium assessment is based on read across to Barium Chloride dossier
Conclusion on classification
Short-term toxicity EC/LC50 values of barium available for 3 trophic levels are situated between > 1.15 mg Ba/L and 14.5 mg Ba/L. In accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008, Table 4.1.0 (a), classification for acute aquatic hazard is not required for barium as all EC50/LC50 values are above the classification criteria of 1 mg/L.
Long-term toxicity data are available for three trophic levels and range from ≥ 1.15 mg Ba/L to 2.9 mg Ba/L. In accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008, Table 4.1.0 (b) (i), classification for chronic aquatic hazard is not required for barium as all chronic EC10/NOEC values are above the classification criteria of 1 mg/L.
Information on Registered Substances comes from registration dossiers which have been assigned a registration number. The assignment of a registration number does however not guarantee that the information in the dossier is correct or that the dossier is compliant with Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (the REACH Regulation). This information has not been reviewed or verified by the Agency or any other authority. The content is subject to change without prior notice.
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