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Please be aware that this old REACH registration data factsheet is no longer maintained; it remains frozen as of 19th May 2023.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

Read-across statement

No data are available on environmental fate and behaviour of Mg metal.

A transformation/dissolution test of Mg powder in aqueous media at pH 6 and 8 shows high solubility of Mg metal powder and rapid formation of Mg2+ + 2 OH- + H2(g). Therefore, Mg is considered as completely soluble under the relevant concentration range. It is assumed that the hydroxyl ions will largely be neutralised in the environment by e.g. precipitation reactions etc., and therefore the chemical safety assessment will be based on elemental Mg concentrations and a read-across approach is proposed from experimental data available for soluble Mg salts or monitoring data of elemental Mg concentrations in the environment.

The speciation and chemistry of magnesium in the environment is considered to be rather simple because Mg ions are highly soluble, not readily oxidized or reduced and do not form strong complexes with most inorganic ligands or organic matter. The reliable data selected for the environmental fate and behaviour of magnesium like adsorption/desorption coefficients and bioconcentration/bioaccumulation factors are all based on monitoring data of elemental magnesium concentrations in water, soil, sediment, suspended matter and organisms. These levels reflect the equilibrium of Mg-ions under natural conditions (i.e., in the presence of complexing compounds) and measured levels (total/dissolved), are independent from the type of Mg compound that acted as source of input of Mg in the environment. Consequently, the reported elemental-based environmental fate data in this section of the dossier are considered relevant for the behaviour of magnesium released into the environment from magnesium metal.