Handbook of Solvents - George Wypych - ChemTech - Ventech!

17.1 The environmental fate and movement of organic solvents 1161
Consequently, it appears likely that the alcohols, ketones, o-cresol, ethyl acetate, and
pyridine will degrade rapidly in soil if rapidly is defined as having a half-life of 10 days or
less. Most of the benzene derivatives, F-11, and the chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons may
be relatively persistent in soil. Analogous information was not located for diethyl ether,
hexane, decane, or tetrahydrofuran. ATSDR 21 for example, found that there was little information
available for the degradation of n-hexane in soil. It was suggested that n-hexane can
degrade to alcohols, aldehydes, and fatty acids under aerobic conditions.
17.1.7 AIR
Once released into the atmosphere, the most rapid mechanism to attenuate most of the solvents
in Table 17.1.1 appears to be by photo-oxidation by hydroxyl radicals in the troposphere.
Based on the estimates by Howard et al., 14 it appeared that nine of the solvents can
be characterized by an atmospheric residence half-life of 10 days or less (Figure 17.1.3).
The photo-oxidation of solvents yields products. For example, the reaction of OH radicals
with n-hexane can yield aldehydes, ketones, and nitrates. 21
The reaction of some of the solvents with ozone may be much slower. For example,
the half-life for the reaction of benzene with ozone may be longer than 100 years. 19 Solvents
such as carbon tetrachloride, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, and the chlorinated fluorocarbons may
be relatively resistant to photo-oxidation. The major fate mechanism of atmospheric
1,1,1-trichloroethane, for example, may be wet deposition. 32
REFERENCES
1 Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Toxicological Profile for Acetone. ATSDR, Atlanta,
Georgia, 1994.
2 Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Toxicological Profile for Tetrachloroethylene. ATSDR,
Atlanta, Georgia, 1991.
3 D. Calamari (ed.) Chemical Exposure Predictions, Lewis Publishers, 1993.
4 P. H. Howard, Handbook of Environmental Fate and Exposure Data for Organic Chemicals. Vol. II
Solvents. Lewis Publishers, Chelsea, Michigan, 1990.
5 W. J. Lyman, W. F. Reehl, and D. H. Rosenblatt (eds). Handbook of Chemical Property Estimation
Methods, American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C., 1990.
6 R. E. Ney. Fate and Transport of Organic Chemicals in the Environment. 2nd ed. Government Institutes, Inc.
Rockville, MD, 1995.
7 B. L. Sawhney and K. Brown (eds.). Reactions and Movement of Organic Chemicals in Soils,
Soil Science Society of America, Special Publication Number 22, 1989.
8 R. G. Thomas, Volatilization From Water, W. J. Lyman, W. F. Reehl, and D. H. Rosenblatt (eds). in
Handbook of Chemical Property Estimation Methods, American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C,
Chap. 15, 1990.
9 J. C. Harris. Rate of Hydrolysis, Lyman, W. J., W. F. Reehl, and D. H. Rosenblatt (eds). in Handbook of
Chemical Property Estimation Methods, American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C, Chap. 7, 1990.
10 K. M. Scow, 1990, Rate of Biodegradation, W. J. Lyman, W. F. Reehl, and D. H. Rosenblatt (eds). in
Handbook of Chemical Property Estimation Methods, American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C,
Chap. 9, 1990.
11 W. R. Roy and R. A. Griffin, Environ. Geol. Water Sci., 15, 101 (1990).
12 R. J. Millington, Science, 130, 100 (1959).
13 W. R. Roy and R. A. Griffin, Environ. Geol. Water Sci., 7, 241 (1985).
14 P. H. Howard, R. S. Boethling, W. F. Jarvis, W. M. Meylan, and Edward M. Michalenko. Handbook of
Environmental Degradation Rates, Lewis Publishers, Chelsea, Michigan, 1991.
15 M. Alexander and K. M. Scow, Kinetics of Biodegradation, B. L. Sawhney, and K. Brown (eds.). in
Reactions and Movement of Organic Chemicals in Soils. Soil Science Society of America Special
Publication, Number 22, Chap. 10, 1989.
16 W. J. Lyman, Atmospheric Residence Time, W. J. Lyman, W. F. Reehl, and D. H. Rosenblatt (eds). in
Handbook of Chemical Property Estimation Methods. American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C,
Chap. 10, 1990.