Copper sulphate

Endpoint summary

Additional information

The physical and chemical properties are summarised in the following table:

Property	Value	Remarks
Physical state at 20°C and 101.3 kPa	Copper sulphate:   Solid       Copper sulphate pentahydrate:    Solid	Copper sulphate:   Form: Crystalline/Powder Colour: Green-white Odour: Odourless   Copper sulphate pentahydrate:    Form: Crystalline Colour: Blue Odour: Odourless
Melting/freezing point	Copper sulphate:   Decomposes without melting at 560 °C.   Copper sulphate pentahydrate:   Decomposes without melting at 110 °C.
Boiling point	Copper sulphate:   Decomposes without boiling at 560 °C.   Copper sulphate pentahydrate:   Decomposes without boiling at 110 °C.
Relative density	Copper sulphate:   3.6 g/cm^3   Copper sulphate pentahydrate:   2.286 g/cm^3
Vapour pressure	Not applicable	The following waiver applies to both the anhydrous and pentahydrate forms of Copper sulphate:   Copper sulphate is an inorganic salt and as such has negligible vapour pressure at environmentally relevant temperatures.
Surface tension	Not applicable	The following waiver applies to both the anhydrous and pentahydrate forms of Copper sulphate:   Surface tension is not applicable to inorganic salts.
Water solubility	Copper sulphate:   22g/100g H2O at 25°C   Copper sulphate pentahydrate:   22g/100g H2O at 25°C
Partition coefficient n-octanol/water (log value)	Not applicable	The following waiver applies to both the anhydrous and pentahydrate forms of Copper sulphate:   The octanol:water partition coefficient, Pow, is defined as the ratio of the equilibrium concentrations of a dissolved substance in each of the phases in a two phase system consisting of octanol and water. It is usually expressed on a log scale. It is a key parameter in studies of the environmental fate of organic substances, indicating the potential for bioaccumulation and soil absorption. However, the mechanisms of absorption of Cu^2+into organic matter and living cells are understood to be different from those traditionally attributed to carbon-based substances and the parameter therefore has little relevance to ionic copper. The parameter is therefore not considered to be relevant to copper sulphate.
Flash point	Not applicable	The following waiver applies to both the anhydrous and pentahydrate forms of Copper sulphate:   The determination of flash point is not required because the substance is a solid.
Flammability	Not applicable	The following waiver applies to both the anhydrous and pentahydrate forms of Copper sulphate:   Copper sulphate is an inorganic salt with copper in a high oxidation state. As such this material is not likely to undergo self heating under bulk storage conditions and is unlikely to auto-ignite. Self heating or auto-ignition has not been observed with copper sulphate following use for many years.
Explosive properties	Not applicable	The following waiver applies to both the anhydrous and pentahydrate forms of Copper sulphate:   Copper sulphate is a stable inorganic substance. None of the components or groups are associated with explosive hazards. All are stable groupings in high oxidation states. Copper sulphate therefore will not have explosive properties and experience in use over many years confirms this conclusion.
Self-ignition temperature	Not applicable	The following waiver applies to both the anhydrous and pentahydrate forms of Copper sulphate:   Copper sulphate is an inorganic salt with copper in a high oxidation state. As such this material is not likely to undergo self heating under bulk storage conditions and is unlikely to auto-ignite. Self heating or auto-ignition has not been observed with copper sulphate following use for many years.
Oxidising properties	Not applicable	The following waiver applies to both the anhydrous and pentahydrate forms of Copper sulphate:   Oxidising compounds are materials that can easily transfer oxygen to other compounds, i.e. they contain weakly bound oxygen, for example NO3and peroxides. Bound oxygen must also become available through a low energy degradation route with a low energy of activation. The oxygen in copper sulphate pentahydrate is bound in stable sulphate structural groupings with strong oxygen bonds. The decomposition temperature of copper sulphate is also high indicating a high energy of activation. Copper sulphate is therefore considered inert under the conditions of oxidation. Experience in using copper sulphate over many years also indicates that it is not associated with oxidising hazards.
Granulometry	Volume-rated particle size distribution for microcrystalline copper sulphate pentahydrate by laser diffraction: D(v,0.1) 80.7 µm; D (v,0.5) 256 µm; D(v,0.9) 516 µm. Number-rated particle size distribution by laser diffraction: D(n,0.1) 4.67 µm; D (n,0.5) 6.15 µm; D(n,0.9) 14.5 µm. A sieve test on crystalline copper sulphate pentahydrate in the size range 1 – 50 mm showed that < 0.01% w/w of the test material is less than 125 µm.	Joint registrants that produce or import copper sulphate pentahydrate corresponding to this specifiction are able to refer to the Lead Registrant's granulometry data for the purpose of REACH registration. The Exposure Scenarios developed under REACH are based on the worst-case assumption that 100% of any material becoming airbourne is respirable.
Stability in organic solvents and identity of relevant degradation products	Not applicable	The following waiver applies to both the anhydrous and pentahydrate forms of Copper sulphate: As stated in the REACH regulations, the study does not need to be conducted if the substance is inorganic.
Dissociation constant	Not applicable	The following waiver applies to both the anhydrous and pentahydrate forms of Copper sulphate:   Dissociation is a reversible equilibrium process where a species exists either in an ionised or an unionised solution state. The dissociation constant (pKa) is effectively the ratio of the associated (unionised) to dissociated (ionised) substance in solution. Copper is a poorly soluble metallic element that can only remain in solution in a totally dissociated ionic state: a non reversible process. Since its solubility is low and it does not exist in solution in an associated state, it does not therefore have a measurable dissociation constant.
Viscosity	Not applicable	The following waiver applies to both the anhydrous and pentahydrate forms of Copper sulphate:   The determination of viscosity is not required because the substance is a solid.
Auto flammability	Not applicable	The following waiver applies to both the anhydrous and pentahydrate forms of Copper sulphate:   Copper sulphate is an inorganic salt with copper in a high oxidation state. As such this material is not likely to undergo self heating under bulk storage conditions and is unlikely to auto-ignite. Self heating or auto-ignition has not been observed with copper sulphate following use for many years.