Product Information

Ethanolamines
Biodegradation is a major process for removing chemicals from aquatic and terrestrial environments. A variety of laboratory tests can be used to indicate the propensity of a compound to biodegrade. The Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD)1 has divided biodegradation testing into three distinct categories as follows:

Biodegradability of the Ethanolamines

T able 1Biodegradability Test Results
Ethanolamine Monoethanolamine Diethanolamine Triethanolamine BOD/ThOD as Percent3 5 Day 10 Day 20 Day mgO 38 11 0 48 36 0 67 58 61 ThOD4 /mg compound 2 2.36 2.13 2.04

References
1

Ready Biodegradability
Tests of Ready Biodegradability are stringent tests designed to provide limited opportunity for biodegradation and acclimatization of microorganisms to a chemical to occur. Chemicals which pass OECD Ready Biodegradability criteria in these tests are not expected to persist in the environment. Each of the three ethanolamine homologues have met OECD Ready Biodegradability criteria in independent laboratory tests.2 Results of biodegradability tests conducted within INEOS laboratories using procedures similar to OECD Ready Biodegrad1 ability tests are shown in Table 1.
2

OECD, 1993. OECD Guidelines for Testing Chemicals, Vol. 1. Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development. Paris, France. Davis, J. W. and C. L. Carpenter, 1997. Environmental Assessment of the Alkanolamines. Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. Vol. 149, pp. 87-137. BOD/ThODBiochemical oxygen demand/Theoretical oxygen demand. This is an indication of % biodegraded after the indicated time period. Theoretical oxygen demand for complete oxidation to CO2, H2O and NO3 (mgO2/mg compound basis).

T able 2Sim ulation Test Results

Ethanolamine Diethanolamine Triethanolamine Triethanolamine En vironmental Matrix Lake water Sandy loam soil River sediment/water Time Required for 50% Removal (Days) <10 110 <1

Inherent Biodegradability
In cases where a chemical fails to meet Ready Biodegradability criteria, tests of Inherent Biodegradability are conducted to assess whether the chemical has any potential for biodegradation under optimized test conditions. Because each of the three ethanolamine homologues have met OECD Ready Biodegradability criteria in independent laboratory tests2, further tests for Inherent Biodegradability are unnecessary.

The conditions of such tests must be selected and validated so that they represent accurate models of the simulated environment. Therefore, simulation tests are in most cases considered research projects. The results of such research on the ethanolamines (Table 2) have shown rapid rates of degradation in agricultural surface soils and various freshwater aquatic environments.
For more information on INEOS ethanolamines, call 1-866-865-4767 (toll free in the U.S. & Canada).

Sim ulation Testing

Simulation tests are designed to provide an estimate of actual biodegradation rates for relevant concentrations of a chemical in the environment.