1.2- Dibromoethane groundwater contamination

Members of the general population with potentially high exposure to 1,2- dibromoethane include individuals living near the nine NPL sites currently known to be contaminated with the compound. The size of the population and the concentrations of 1,2-dibromoethane in all of the contaminated media to which these people are potentially exposed have not been completely characterized. Other populations with potentially high exposures to 1,2-dibromoethane include individuals in the six states with confirmed groundwater contamination, and workers involved in the manufacture and continued use of 1,2-dibromoethane. 

Recent field evidence indicates that the occurrence of these reaction products may be relatively common in hypoxic groundwaters which have been contaminated by bromoaliphatic compounds. Schwarzenbach et al. (1) reported the presence of a complex mixture of alkyl and chloroalkyl sulfides in a hypoxic groundwater polluted by a variety of bromo- and chloroaliphatic compounds. Ethanethiol (at a concentration of approximately 2 pM) was detected by Jackson et al. (5Q) in groundwater contaminated by a variety of chlorinated and brominated solvents beneath a municipal/industrial landfill. In addition, Watts and Brown (51 cited in 2) have reported the presence of ethanethiol, diethyl disulfide and triethyl disulfide in Florida groundwaters contaminated by 1,2-dibromoethane. 

Dibromoethane can enter your body after you eat or drink contaminated food and water. It can also enter your body through your skin when you bathe or swim in contaminated water. The 1,2-dibromoethane inside tiny soil particles may enter your body if you crush or eat contaminated soil. The chemical can enter your nose and lungs when you breathe air that contains 1,2-dibromoethane or when you shower with water that is contaminated. Near hazardous waste sites or near areas that once were farmed, the most likely way that you will be exposed is by drinking contaminated groundwater. 

Exposure of the general population to higher concentrations of 1,2-dibromoethane may result from contact with contaminated hazardous waste site media, principally soils and groundwater. No information was found in the available literature regarding the size of the human population potentially exposed to 1,2-dibromoethane through contact with contaminated waste site media. 

Halogenated ethanes are distributed widely in the environment. Dibromoethane has been used as a soil fumigant and fuel additive while a number of chlorinated ethanes find extensive use as solvents. These compounds are common contaminants in groundwater and, consequently, their hydrolysis reactions are of interest. Hydrolysis of dibromoethane yields primarily ethylene glycol through substitution reactions, however, some vinyl bromide is produced through an elimination reaction. 

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