Registration Dossier

Diss Factsheets

Environmental fate & pathways

Endpoint summary

Administrative data

Description of key information

Sulfolane is expected to be highly mobile in water and shows low adsorption potential for soil.

Additional information

A QSAR prediction for sulfolane shows a low potential for adsorption with an estimated Koc of 3.37. Measured Koc values for sulfolane were slightly higher in the range 12.33 -176 but still do not suggest strong adsorption to soils (Saint Fort 2006). Saint Fort (2006) reports partition coefficients (Kd) for sulfolane in the range 0.3-1.23 at 8°C while Luther et al. (1998) reports Kd values for sulfolane of between 0.08 and 0.94 L/kg, with higher Kd values for clay soils rather than humus based soils. The reported Kd values also suggest that sulfolane will not adsorb to soils and this is consistent with its low Log Kow and reported high water solubility.