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U.S. EPA Contaminated Site Cleanup Information (CLU-IN)


U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
U.S. EPA Technology Innovation and Field Services Division

Dense Nonaqueous Phase Liquids (DNAPLs)

Chemistry and Behavior

Halogenated Alkanes

Propanes

1,2-Dichloropropane

1,2-Dichloropropane 1,2-Dichloropropane (1,2-DCP, CAS# 78-87-5) has a vapor pressure of 49.67 mmHg at 25oC (ATSDR 1989) and is a class IB flammable liquid (NIOSH 2005). The log Koc of 1,2-DCP is 1.67, the log Kow is about 1.99, and the Henry's constant is 2.07 e-3 atm-m3/mole (24oC) (ATSDR 1989). The solubility of 1,2-DCP is about 2,700 mg/L at 20oC (ATSDR 1989), and its specific gravity is about 1.16. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry's toxicological profile for 1,2-DCP contains a useful summary tableAdobe PDF Logo of the physical properties of 1,2-DCP.

The relatively low Koc value calculated for 1,2-DCP in soil indicates that 1,2-DCP is likely to move quickly through soil and sediment (ATSDR 1989).

Based on a Henry's law constant of 1.1x10-3 atm-m3/mol at 20oC, 1,2-DCP is expected to volatilize rapidly from water surfaces (ATSDR 1989). Modeling information for 1,2-DCP in the Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) suggests that its half life in a river one meter deep is about 3 hours, and about 4 hours in a lake.

Because of the low Kow of 1,2-DCP, bioaccumulation is not expected to occur to any significant extent (ATSDR 1989). The compound can be degraded by microbial action under anaerobic conditions (Loeffler et al. 1997 and Ritalaht 2004) but is highly recalcitrant under aerobic conditions (Haggbloom 2003 and Ritalaht 2004).

When released to the atmosphere, hydroxyl radicals are expected to degrade 1,2-DCP with a half life of greater than 23 days. Direct photolysis is not expected to occur (ATSDR 1989).

References

Dehalogenation: Microbial Processes and Environmental Applications
Haggblom, M.M. and I.D. Bossert.
Kluwer Academic Publishers, ISBN: 1402074069, 520 pp, 2003

Complete Reductive Dechlorination of 1,2-Dichloropropane by Anaerobic Bacteria
Loeffler, F.E., J.E. Champine, K.M. Ritalahti, S.J. Sprague, and J.M. Tiedje.
Applied and Environmental Microbiology 63:2870-2875(1997)
View paper

1,2-Dichloropropane
PubChem
PubChem, National Center for Biotechnology Information.

Populations Implicated in Anaerobic Reductive Dechlorination of 1,2-Dichloropropane in Highly Enriched Bacterial Communities
Ritalahti, K. and Frank E. Loeffler.
Applied and Environmental Microbiology 70(7):4088-4095(2004)
View abstract

Propylene Dichloride
NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards.
National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, NIOSH Publication Number 2005-149, 2005

Toxicological Profile for 1,2-Dichloropropane
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), 131 pp, 1989

For Further Information

Biodegradability of Chlorinated Solvents and Related Chlorinated Aliphatic CompoundsAdobe PDF Logo
Field, J.A. and R. Sierra-Alvarez, Univ. of Arizona.
Euro Chlor, 98 pp, 2004

DNAPL Site Evaluation Adobe PDF Logo
Cohen, R. and J. Mercer.
EPA 600-R-93-022, 369 pp, 1993

This document has a broad discussion of DNAPL site evaluation and contains a comprehensive table of physical properties of selected DNAPL chemicals, including TCFM, in its Appendix A.