Registration Dossier

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Please be aware that this old REACH registration data factsheet is no longer maintained; it remains frozen as of 19th May 2023.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

Administrative data

Hazard for aquatic organisms

Freshwater

Hazard assessment conclusion:
PNEC aqua (freshwater)
PNEC value:
39 µg/L
Assessment factor:
10
Extrapolation method:
assessment factor
PNEC freshwater (intermittent releases):
48 µg/L

Marine water

Hazard assessment conclusion:
PNEC aqua (marine water)
PNEC value:
39 µg/L
Assessment factor:
10
Extrapolation method:
assessment factor

STP

Hazard assessment conclusion:
PNEC STP
PNEC value:
39 µg/L
Assessment factor:
10
Extrapolation method:
assessment factor

Sediment (freshwater)

Hazard assessment conclusion:
PNEC sediment (freshwater)
PNEC value:
39 µg/kg sediment dw
Extrapolation method:
equilibrium partitioning method

Sediment (marine water)

Hazard assessment conclusion:
PNEC sediment (marine water)
PNEC value:
39 µg/kg sediment dw
Extrapolation method:
equilibrium partitioning method

Hazard for air

Air

Hazard assessment conclusion:
PNEC air
PNEC value:
16 mg/m³

Hazard for terrestrial organisms

Soil

Hazard assessment conclusion:
PNEC soil
PNEC value:
11 µg/kg soil dw
Extrapolation method:
equilibrium partitioning method

Hazard for predators

Secondary poisoning

Hazard assessment conclusion:
no potential for bioaccumulation

Additional information

Boron trichloride is rapidly degraded in water to hydrogen chloride and boric acid. A degradation category approach is applied, see Section 13, transcribing the endpoint results of the degradation products to boron trichloride. The toxic action of hydrogen chloride turned out to be decisive compared to that of boric acid, for each ecotoxicological endpoint. Hydrogen chloride acts by lowering the pH. It was therefore justified to adopt the PNECs derived in the registration dossier for hydrogen chloride after transcribing the concentration values to boron trichloride according to the degradation equation.

For a risk assessment it is indicated to use the critical pH of 6 as threshold for toxicity and not the concentration in mg/L, considering the buffering capacity in natural water or sediment. The critical pH of 6 is derived from the range of naturally occurring pHs and from the EC directive 2006/44/EC on the "Quality of fresh waters needing protection or improvement in order to support fish life", which state that the pH of the fish water has to be in the range of 6 to 9.

Toxicity by reduced pH is a non-specific effect. The mechanism of cell damage is the same in each organism and low inter- and intraspecies differences are expected, requiring only low assessment factors.

Conclusion on classification

The main effect of boron trichloride and its degradation products is the lowering of the pH.

It is not considered useful to calculate a PNEC for boron trichloride because factors such as the buffer capacity, the natural pH and the fluctuation of the pH are very specific for a certain ecosystem. Considering sufficient buffer capacity of the STP or the water compartment after neutralisation no adverse effect is expected.

Moreover boron trichloride is not classified for the environmental compartment based on its dissociation in the environment, lack of bioaccumulation and lack of adsorption to particulate matter or surfaces.