Registration Dossier
Registration Dossier
Please be aware that this old REACH registration data factsheet is no longer maintained; it remains frozen as of 19th May 2023.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.
Use of this information is subject to copyright laws and may require the permission of the owner of the information, as described in the ECHA Legal Notice.
EC number: 247-148-4 | CAS number: 25637-99-4
Biodegradation in water: screening tests
Administrative data
Link to relevant study record(s)
Description of key information
Schafer, E. C. and Haberlein, D. (1996). Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD): Closed Bottle Test. Report no.: 439E-102.
Davis, J. W., Gonsior, S. J., Markham, D. A. and Marty, G. T. (2004a). Investigation of the biodegradation of [14C]Hexabromocyclododecane in sludge, sediment and soil. Report no.: 031178.
Davis, J. W., Gonsior, S. J., Markham, D. A., Friedrich, U., Hunziker, R. W. and Ariano, J. M. (2006). Biodegradation and Product Identification of [14C]Hexabromocyclododecane in Wastewater Sludge and Freshwater Aquatic Sediment. Environ. Sci. Technol. (2006) Vol. 40, pp. 5395-5401.
Gerecke, A. C., Giger, W., Hartmann, P. C., Heeb, N. V., Kohler, H. -P. E., Schmid, P., Zennegg, M. and Kohler, M. (2006). Anaerobic degradation of brominated flame retardants in sewage sludge. Chemosphere (2006), Vol. 64, pp.311-317.
Key value for chemical safety assessment
- Biodegradation in water:
- inherently biodegradable
Additional information
HBCDD is not readily biodegradable in a 28 day aerobic degradation sewage sludge test (Schafer and Haberlein, 1996). However, inherent biodegradation was observed in aerobic and anaerobic digester sludge (Davis et al., 2004; 2006 (Chemosphere); 2006 (Environ. Sci. Technol.)). Within 28 days HBCDD had decreased to approximately 10% of the starting value while a 50% loss occurred by day 15. Abiotic degradation processes appeared to play an important role. All three diastereomers were degraded. Gerecke et al. (2006) reported a much shorter half-life of 0.66 days in anaerobic sewage sludge. The difference in half-lives (15 days versus 0.66 days) was attributed to the 90-fold higher HBCDD concentration used by Davis et al. At higher concentrations for poorly soluble substances such as HBCDD, biodegradation rates are more dependent on mass transfer limitations than on true biodegradation kinetics. Environmentally relevant concentrations should be used to generate meaningful kinetic data.
Davis et al. (2006) reported three degradants: tetrabromocyclododecane, dibromocyclododecadiene and cyclodecatriene. The authors proposed that HBCDD was sequentially debrominated via dihaloelimination where at each step there is the loss of two bromines from vicinal carbons with the subsequent formation of a double bond between the adjacent carbon atoms. The conclusion was that microorganisms naturally occurring in anaerobic digester sludge mediate complete debromination of HBCDD.
Information on Registered Substances comes from registration dossiers which have been assigned a registration number. The assignment of a registration number does however not guarantee that the information in the dossier is correct or that the dossier is compliant with Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (the REACH Regulation). This information has not been reviewed or verified by the Agency or any other authority. The content is subject to change without prior notice.
Reproduction or further distribution of this information may be subject to copyright protection. Use of the information without obtaining the permission from the owner(s) of the respective information might violate the rights of the owner.
