Registration Dossier
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EC number: 200-817-4 | CAS number: 74-87-3
Toxicity to terrestrial plants
Administrative data
Link to relevant study record(s)
Description of key information
Plants show slightly toxic effect of Chloromethane far in excess of natural occurring concentrations. Chloromethane is not harmful to plants.
Key value for chemical safety assessment
Additional information
Considering its solubility, volatility and resultant Henry’s Law Constant, chloromethane is expected, under equilibrium conditions, to exist principally in the air. Additionally, the substance is readily biodegradable and not expected to adsorb to soil based upon the log Koc. The atmosphere is the main target environmental compartment. In the air the substance degrades through indirect photolysis. As such it is unlikely that the substance reach concentrations, at which any significant toxicological effects have to be expected. Available test results from Christ (1994) indicate chloromethane is of low toxicity to plants. Tested plant species were tomatoes (Lycopersicum esculentum Miller), sunflower (Helianthus annuusL.), bush bean (Phaseolus vulgarisL.), nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus L.), sugar-beet (Beta vulgaris L.), soya bean (Glycinemaxima (L.) Merill), and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and the first visible effects occur at concentrations between 5000-10000 mg/m³.
As cited in Concise International Chemical Assessment Document 28 (2000) numerous measurements of chloromethane levels in air have been performed, especially in the. The mean or median concentrations of chloromethane measured in the air of rural/remote sites in the USA were about 1.0–2.7μg/m³ (0.5–1.3 ppb), with the majority of the values below 2.1μg/m³ (1.0 ppb); the maximum concentration measured was 4.3μg/m³ (2.1 ppb). In samples from urban/suburban areas in the, the mean/median concentrations were in the range of 0.27–6.2μg/m³ (0.13–3.0 ppb), with the majority of the values in the range 1.0–2.3μg/m³ (0.5–1.1 ppb). Background concentrations of chloromethane in the troposphere are around 1.2 μg/m³ (0.6 ppb) and the negligible amount of industrial release do not contribute to this natural background concentrations. Therefore, plants show only slightly toxic effect of chloromethane far in excess of natural occurring concentrations.
Additionally, the substance is not intended to be released to the soil compartment.
The substance is readily biodegradable, has a low potential for adsorption and does not bioaccumulate. These characteristics suggest a small hazardous potential towards soil organisms. Therefore, the equilibrium partitioning method has been used to assess the hazard potential of chloromethane for soil organisms.
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