VERY PERSISTANT

Indole is a colodess solid, mp 52—54°C, which is leaddy soluble in most organic solvents but sparingly soluble in water. Indole has a musty odor which is very persistent and its derivatives have some apphcations in the formulation of fragrances. 

Dieldrin [60-57-1] or l,2,3,4,10,10-hexachloro-l,4,4t ,5,8,8t -hexahydro-6,7-epoxy-l,4- <7o, Aro-5,8-dimethanonaphthalene (34) (mp 176°C, vp 0.4 mPa at 20°C) is formed from aldrin by epoxidation with peracetic or perben2oic acids. It is soluble in water to 27 / g/L. Aldrin and dieldrin have had extensive use as soil insecticides and for seed treatments. Dieldrin, which is very persistent, has had wide use to control migratory locusts, as a residual spray to control the Anopheles vectors of malaria, and to control tsetse flies. Because of environmental persistence and propensity for bio accumulation, registrations in the United States were canceled in 1974. 

On plant surfaces, as in soils, numerous studies have demonstrated that endosulfan is oxidized to endosulfan sulfate. Initial residues of endosulfan on treated vegetables generally range from 1 to 100 mg/kg. However, residue levels typically decrease to less than 20% of initial levels within 1 week after treatment (NRCC 1975). Residues of endosulfan isomers are generally negligible after 2-3 weeks the a-isomer is much less persistent than the P-isomer. In most plant residue studies, endosulfan sulfate residue levels tend to increase relative to the parent isomers and other metabolites and appear to be very persistent (Coleman and Dolinger 1982). 

In discussing the enviromnental fate of technical DDT, the main issue is the persistence of p,p -DDT and its stable metabolites, although it should be bom in mind that certain other compounds— notably, o,p -DDT and p,p -DDD—also occur in the technical material and are released into the environment when it is used. The o,p isomer of DDT is neither very persistent nor very acutely toxic it does, however, have estrogenic properties (see Section 5.2.4). A factor favoring more rapid metabolism of the o,p isomer compared to the p,p isomer is the presence, on one of the benzene rings, of an unchlorinated para position, which is available for oxidative attack. p,p -DDD, the other major impurity of technical DDT, is the main component of technical DDD, which has been used as an insecticide in its own right (rhothane). p,p -DDD is also generated in the environment as a metabolite of p,p -DDT. In practice, the most abundant and widespread residues of DDT found in the environment have been p,p -DDE, p,p -DDT, and p,p -DDD. 

There is strong evidence that DNA adduction by these bulky reactive metabolites of PAHs is far from random, and that there are certain hot spots that are preferentially attacked. Differential steric hindrance and the differential operation of DNA repair mechanisms ensure that particular sites on DNA are subject to stable adduct formation (Purchase 1994). DNA repair mechanisms clearly remove many PAH/ guanine adducts very quickly, but studies with P postlabeling have shown that certain adducts can be very persistent—certainly over many weeks. Evidence for this has been produced in studies on fish and Xenopus (an amphibian Reichert et al. 1991 Waters et al. 1994). 

PBTs (in addition to those listed by governmental organizations) vPvBs (very persistent, very bioaccumulating) substances... 

The Danish List of Undesirable Substances is a list of chemicals of concern that the government believes should be avoided to the extent feasible in commerce. Using a systematic analysis, substances are selected automatically if they meet some clear and defined criteria, for example, problematic classifications, because they are imder suspicion for being PBT/vPvB (Persistent, Bioaccumulative, Toxic/very Persistent, very Bio accumulative) or endocrine-disrupting. 

Further annealing induces additional Ag overlayer enrichment with Pd atoms, causing a substantial intensity increase of the Pd resonant state, while the intensity at the Fermi level remained very small. This is a clear indication of the localized character of the Pd 4d state. The annealing of the Ag multilayer produces a surface alloy with a composition very close to Ago.sPdo.s which has a DOS at the Fermi level substantially smaller than the pure palladium. The annealing at higher temperature produces a Pd(l 10) surface with very small but very persistent amount of silver, which is in the form of three-dimensional clusters, located most probably below the first Pd(l 1 0) layer. 

Persistency Very persistent in soil and water and on surfaces. 

Another V-agent of interest is Vx, called "V sub x." Another designation for Vx is "V-gas." The properties of Vx are similar to those of VX. It is nearly lOx more volatile than VX, but is very persistent in comparison to the G-agents. The molecular weight of Vx is 211.2. Listed values are calculated, information on this agent is limited. The physiological action, protection, and decontaminants for Vx are the same as for VX. 

From a theoretical point of view, the equilibrium modulus very probably gives the best characterization of a cured rubber. This is due to the relationship between this macroscopic quantity and the molecular structure of the network. Therefore, the determination of the equilibrium modulus has been the subject of many investigations (e.g. 1-9). For just a few specific rubbers, the determination of the equilibrium modulus is relatively easy. The best example is provided by polydimethylsiloxane vulcanizates, which exhibit practically no prolonged relaxations (8, 9). However, the networks of most synthetic rubbers, including natural rubber, usually show very persistent relaxations which impede a close approach to the equilibrium condition (1-8). 

Most of the plastics and synthetic polymers that are used worldwide are produced from petrochemicals. Replacing petroleum-based feedstocks with materials derived from renewable resources is an attractive prospect for manufacturers of polymers and plastics, since the production of such polymers does not depend on the limited supply of fossil fuels [16]. Furthermore, synthetic materials are very persistent in the environment long after their intended use, and as a result their total volume in landfills is giving rise to serious waste management problems. In 1992,20% of the volume and 8% of the weight of landfills in the US were plastic materials, while the annual disposal of plastics both in the US and EC has risen to over 10 million tons [17]. Because of the biodegradability of PHAs, they would be mostly composted and as such would be very valuable in reducing the amount of plastic waste. 

Citalopram and fluoxetine are antidepressant drugs widely used in human medicine and very persistent in WWTPs. However, there are few studies about the degradation of these pharmaceuticals by fungi and none of them identifies TPs. 

For advection, it is necessary to select flow rates. This is conveniently done in the form of advective residence times, t in hour (h) thus the advection rate G is V/t m3/h for each medium. For air, a residence time of 100 hours is used (approximately 4 days), which is probably too long for the geographic area considered, but shorter residence times tend to cause air advective loss to be a dominant mechanism. For water, a figure of 1000 hours (42 days) is used, reflecting a mixture of rivers and lakes. For sediment burial (which is treated as an advective loss), a time of 50,000 hours or 5.7 years is used. Only for very persistent, hydrophobic chemicals is this process important. No advective loss from soil is included. The D value for loss by advection DAi is G,Z and the rates are DAif mol/h. 

The topmost layer of unprotected feedstock (e.g., hay or grain) should be destroyed. The remaining material should be quarantined until tested. Carbamate nerve agents are very persistent and forage vegetation could still retain sufficient agent to produce severe effects... 

Agents modified with thickeners last significantly longer. Dusty agents can be very persistent depending on the carrier employed and can be reaerosolized after deployment by ground traffic or strong winds. 

Very persistent in the environment Faster degradation than PCDDs [59]. 

Persistent, Bioaccumulative and Toxic and Very Persistent and Very Bioaccumulative Substances... 

Authorisation will also be required for persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) and very persistent and very bioaccumulative (vPvB) substances. The PBT and vPvB criteria are defined in Annex XII of the Regulation (Table 7). There are subtle differences in the... 

NOEC No-observed effect concentration vPvB Very persistent and very bioaccumulative... 

The chlorinated chemicals assessed do not have the same risk profile. For the more volatile chemicals the safety margins between the actual exposure and the level at which no effect on the environment would be expected is quite high. For more persistent chemicals there is a need to look to the environmental compartment where they can be accumulated (mainly in sediments and biota). For some of these chemicals the safety margin is quite low and in worst-case situations serious effects may occur. For the very persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals (like dioxins, PCBs and DDT), acceptable environmental concentrations are so low and difficult to control that the industry is committed to reducing as far as possible releases to the environment through application of Best Available Techniques (BAT), mainly with respect to dioxins. For other chemicals (PCBs, DDT), production has already been halted for some years. 

Mirex is a very persistent compound in the environment and is highly resistant to both chemical and biological degradation. The primary process for the degradation of mirex is photolysis in water or on soil surfaces photomirex is the major transformation product of photolysis. In soil or sediments, anaerobic biodegradation is also a major removal mechanism whereby mirex is slowly dechlorinated to the 10-monohydro derivative. Aerobic biodegradation on soil is a very slow and minor degradation process. Twelve years after the application of mirex to soil, 50% of the mirex and mirex-related compounds remained on the soil. Between 65--73% of the residues recovered were mirex and 3-6% were chlordecone, a transformation product (Carlson et al. 1976). 

All PCDD/F isomers are solids with high melting points, but low vapor pressure and low solubihty in water. The high octanol-water coefficients are an indication of the observed bioaccumulative behavior in plants and animals for these compounds. Detailed environmentally important physicochemical properties can be found in the literature. All higher chlorinated compounds are very persistent in the environment with half-lives of 5-10 years photolysis with sunlight is the only degradation process in the environment. 

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