Ethylbenzene: Environmental effects
Description
Acute toxic effects may include the death of animals, birds, or fish, and death or low growth rate in plants. Ethylbenzene has high acute toxicity to aquatic life. It has caused injury to various agricultural crops. Insufficient data are available to evaluate or predict the short-term effects of ethylbenzene to birds or land animals. Chronic toxic effects may include shortened lifespan, reproductive problems, lower fertility, and changes in appearance or behaviour. Ethylbenzene has a slight tendency to bioaccumulate.
Entering the environment
Ethylbenzene is very volatile so is mostly present in air. It can also be transported by water. It can also move very quickly into groundwater, since it does not readily bind to soil . About 99.5% of ethylbenzene will eventually end up in air; the rest will end up in the water.
Where it ends up
Once in the air, other chemicals help break down ethylbenzene into chemicals found in smog. This breakdown happens in about 3 days with the aid of sunlight. In surface water such as rivers and harbours, ethylbenzene breaks down by reacting with other compounds naturally present in the water. In soil, the major way ethylbenzene is broken down is by soil bacteria.
Environmental guidelines
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