2-butoxyethanol

Endpoint summary

Additional information

2 -butoxyethanol was listed as a contaminant in drinking water samples analysed between September 1974 and January 1980 for a survey of US cities. It was also detected at a concentration of 23 ug/l in 1 of 7 samples collected in 1974 near a contaminated site in the USA and was detected at concentrations of up to 5.7ppm in the water of a Japanese river than received contaminant from leather industry effluents during the same time period. However, this information is likely to be of historical interest only and not represent current situations.

A study evaluated the indoor air of six locations (predominantly domestic) and detected 2 -butoxyethanol in one of the samples evaluated at a level of 8ug/m3. A database with information on indoor air contamination showed an average level of 0.214ppb for the levels of 2 -butoxyethanol present.

Influent and effluent concentrations were measured in the municipal STP of Göteborg, Sweden. Influent concentrations were found to average 85ug/l (range 0 -250) whilst the range of concentration in the effluent was 0 -3ug/l (no average specified). The data may be of historical interest only but does suggest that destruction rates in a typical municipal STP are of the order of 95-99%. A single influent concentrations was measured in a municipal STP in Paris, France. The concentration was found to be 35ug/l . The data may also be of historical interest only.

2-Butoxyethanol was detected in the flue gas of a municipal waste incinerator in Germany in 1995 at a concentration of 0.23 µg/m3.

In a study which examined samples of scrubber water collected from a paint-spray booth sludge pit at a Ford assembly plant on a weekly basis from October 1995 to January 1996, concentrations of 2 -butoxyethanol were found to be in the range 0.2 -0.45g/l.

In a study which examined groundwater samples from areas in and around municipal and industrial landfill sites, 2-butoxyethanol was detected at concentrations varying from zero to 84mg/l.

In a survey of background concentrations at a remote site away from potential emission sources (Antarctica), the measured atmospheric concentrations of 2 -butoxyethanol varied between 1.26 and 14.85ug/m3. The authors of the study believed that marine emission provides a better explanation than long-range transport from vegetation-covered areas for the presence of the substance. Based on fugacity calculations these levels are much higher than can be attributed to emissions from the production and use of the substance. A publication reported a number of ambient measurements in rural locations in Italy, Germany and Nepal. These were consistently in the range 0.4 -1.59ug/m3, suggesting that local emissions have little impact on background concentrations.