Registration Dossier

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Please be aware that this old REACH registration data factsheet is no longer maintained; it remains frozen as of 19th May 2023.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

Endpoint summary

Administrative data

Description of key information

Additional information

Silicon tetrachloride is expected to hydrolyse very rapidly (half-life approximately 5 seconds at pH 7 and 25°C) to form hydrogen chloride and silicic acid. Silicic acid is a naturally occurring substance which is not harmful to aquatic organisms and will be incorporated into solid inorganic matrices such as silica.

In addition, silicic acid is known to be the major bioavailable form of silica for aquatic organisms and plays an important role in the biogeochemical cycle of silicon. Most living organisms contain at least trace quantities of silicon. For some species silicon is an essential element taken up actively. For example, diatoms, radiolarians, flagellates, sponges and gastropods all have silicate skeletal structures. The potential releases of inorganic silicon resulting from use of silicon tetrachloride are negligible compared to the natural flux of silica in the environment.

Silicon tetrachloride is therefore not considered in the environmental exposure assessment (Section 9).

The properties of hydrogen chloride are well-characterised, and its effects are limited to those that result from changes to pH in unbuffered media.