Registration Dossier

Data platform availability banner - registered substances factsheets

Please be aware that this old REACH registration data factsheet is no longer maintained; it remains frozen as of 19th May 2023.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.

Diss Factsheets

Environmental fate & pathways

Hydrolysis

Currently viewing:

Administrative data

Link to relevant study record(s)

Description of key information

Key value for chemical safety assessment

Additional information

Hydrolysis is a reaction in which a water molecule or hydroxide ion substitutes for another atom or group of atoms present in a chemical resulting in a structural change of that chemical. Potentially hydrolyzable groups include alkyl halides, amides, carbamates, carboxylic acid esters and lactones, epoxides, phosphate esters, and sulfonic acid esters (Neely and Blau, 1985). The lack of a suitable leaving group renders compounds resistant to hydrolysis.

The chemical constituents that comprise the bitumen category consist entirely of carbon and hydrogen and do not contain hydrolyzable groups. As such, they have a very low potential to hydrolyze. Therefore, this degradative process will not contribute to their removal from the environment.

The available data and available weight of evidence demonstrate that bitumen is resistant to hydrolysis because it lacks a functional group that is hydrolytically reactive. Therefore, this fate process will not contribute to a measurable degradative loss of these substances from the environment. Further testing is not required under Annex XI, section 1.2.