No data from standard biodegradation tests have been provided by the notifier. The notifier has provided studies which indicate that the chemical undergoes biodegradation in waste water treatment. Measurement of the total organic carbon (TOC) of the effluent from a reactor system which was dosed at rates up to 500 ppm per day, indicated that virtually all the notified chemical was removed from the effluent. The trial was conducted over at least a 3 month period. The notifier has presented results of a "Neely 100-Day Partition Pattern" which predicts that 94% would partition to water, with small fractions to ground and hydrosoil (~3% each), and virtually none present in air. This was calculated from chemical properties which were estimated using quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) calculations {Montana State University Institute for Program Analysis, #41} including a water solubility of 1.3 g.L-1 which is greater than 1 000- fold the water solubility estimated from measurement (~1.03 mg.L-1 at 20°C likely to be the fully ionised form). Should the polymerisation of the notified chemical occur, the majority of the chemical would not be expected to be released to the environment until it has been polymerised and moulded into films, sheeting or containers. The end use products will either be deposited in landfill or recycled at the end of their useful life. Biodegradation of the polymers containing the notified chemical is unlikely. Polymerisation of the notified chemical produce polymers which are analogous to PET, and therefore, would be expected to replace PET in some applications. As such, it is anticipated that it will become part of the PET waste stream which accounts for approximately 0.6% of the domestic waste stream {Planet Ark, 1997 #42}. The company has estimated that the current rate of recycling of PET is 30% Australia wide reaching 50% in capital cities. This is in accord with figures published by Planet Ark. In 1995 30% of the PET waste stream was recycled Australia wide (~15 000 tonnes of PET). The figure was higher in Sydney where it reached 53% {Planet Ark, 1997 #42}. It is anticipated that the recycling rates of the polymers containing the notified chemical will be similar to that of PET.
No data from standard biodegradation tests have been provided by the notifier. The notifier has provided studies which indicate that the chemical undergoes biodegradation in waste water treatment. Measurement of the total organic carbon (TOC) of the effluent from a reactor system which was dosed at rates up to 500 ppm per day, indicated that virtually all the notified chemical was removed from the effluent. The trial was conducted over at least a 3 month period. The notifier has presented results of a "Neely 100-Day Partition Pattern" which predicts that 94% would partition to water, with small fractions to ground and hydrosoil (~3% each), and virtually none present in air. This was calculated from chemical properties which were estimated using quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) calculations {Montana State University Institute for Program Analysis, #41} including a water solubility of 1.3 g.L-1 which is greater than 1 000- fold the water solubility estimated from measurement (~1.03 mg.L-1 at 20°C likely to be the fully ionised form). Should the polymerisation of the notified chemical occur, the majority of the chemical would not be expected to be released to the environment until it has been polymerised and moulded into films, sheeting or containers. The end use products will either be deposited in landfill or recycled at the end of their useful life. Biodegradation of the polymers containing the notified chemical is unlikely. Polymerisation of the notified chemical produce polymers which are analogous to PET, and therefore, would be expected to replace PET in some applications. As such, it is anticipated that it will become part of the PET waste stream which accounts for approximately 0.6% of the domestic waste stream {Planet Ark, 1997 #42}. The company has estimated that the current rate of recycling of PET is 30% Australia wide reaching 50% in capital cities. This is in accord with figures published by Planet Ark. In 1995 30% of the PET waste stream was recycled Australia wide (~15 000 tonnes of PET). The figure was higher in Sydney where it reached 53% {Planet Ark, 1997 #42}. It is anticipated that the recycling rates of the polymers containing the notified chemical will be similar to that of PET.