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Ecotoxicological information

Toxicity to soil microorganisms

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Description of key information

No terrestrial toxicity data are available for trimethyl borate since the compound rapidly hydrolyzes in water with a half-life of less than 1 second to form methanol and boric acid. Methanol is much less toxic to terrestrial organisms compared to boric acid. Therefore, terrestrial toxicity data for boric acid was used.

Key value for chemical safety assessment

Additional information

No terrestrial toxicity data are available for Trimethyl borate since the compound hydrolyzes in water with a half-life of less than 1 second to form methanol and boric acid. Methanol is much less toxic to environmental organisms compared to boric acid. Thus, PNEC values derived for boric acid are protective of the environment for the stoichiometric contribution of methanol .Therefore, terrestrial toxicity data compiled on boric acid was used to derive a PNECsoil. The endpoints included in the dossier under environmental hazard assessment were reported from studies on the ecotoxicity of boron and various compounds, such as boric acid (H3BO3), anhydrous sodium tetraborate (Na2B4O7), and hydrated sodium tetraborates (Na2B4O7. xH2O). Given the high solubility and low Kow for Boron no terrestrial toxicity studies are proposed for Trimethyl borate.