Registration Dossier

Data platform availability banner - registered substances factsheets

Please be aware that this old REACH registration data factsheet is no longer maintained; it remains frozen as of 19th May 2023.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

If 2 -(2 -ethoxyethoxy)ethanol is present in ambient air, it is expected to exist almost entirely in the vapour phase. This substance is not expected to absorb UV light in the environmentally significant range of >290 nm and is not therefore expected to undergo direct photolysis on sunlit soil surfaces, in the atmosphere or in aquatic environments. However, modelling predicts that it is likely to undergo indirect photolysis through hydroxyl radical reaction at a fast rate, with an estimated half life of ~4 hours at an OH concentration of 1.5million OH/cm3. Based on its chemical structure, the substance is expected to be hydrolytically stable under normal environmental conditions. It should be borne in mind that the vapour pressure is so low that transport to the atmospheric compartment is not an important fate mechanism.

The biodegradation of 2 -(2 -ethoxyethoxy)ethanol was assessed at a number of concentrations using a non-adapted domestic sewage innoculum in both freshwater and saltwater media. In both cases rapid degradation was observed (BOD28=87% in freshwater and 70% in seawater. In freshwater, the substance clearly met the criteria to be classified as readily biodegradable. In saltwater, whilst the degradation did not strictly meet the 10 day window for ready biodegradation, this was only missed by a single day and since degradation continued linearly beyond this point, interpretation suggests that this substance can be considered as readily biodegradable in saltwater too.