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Environmental fate & pathways

Biodegradation in water: screening tests

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Description of key information

The members of category are considered to be readily biodegradable.

Key value for chemical safety assessment

Biodegradation in water:
readily biodegradable

Additional information

The members of category are gases and partition predominantly to the atmosphere, and so experimental data for their biodegradation in water are not appropriate. The potential biodegradation rates of representative members of the category were estimated using QSAR calculations. The results of the BioHCwin predictions indicate that these substances will degrade rapidly, with an estimated half-life of 2.5 to 3.5 days. The BIOWIN predictions indicate that methane, ethane, propane and butane are expected to be readily biodegradable, while isobutane is expected to biodegrade fast but is predicted to be not readily biodegradable.

Overall, based on the weight of evidence available, the members of the category are considered to be readily biodegradable.