United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Water
4601
EPA 811-F-95-003a-T
October 1995
Primary Drinking
Water Regulations
Adipate, (2-diethylhexyl)
CHEMICAL/ PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
CAS NUMBER: 103-23-1
COLOR/ FORM/ODOR:
Light colored, oily liquid with an
aromatic odor
M.P.: -67.8° C B.P.: 214° C
VAPOR PRESSURE: 8.5x10"7 mmHg at 25° C
OCTANOL/WATER PARTITION (Kow):
LogKow = >6.11
DENSITY/SPEC. GRAV.: 0.922 at 25° C
SOLUBILITY: 0.78 g/L of water at 22° C;
Slightly soluble in water
SOIL SORPTION COEFFICIENT:
Koc estimated at 5004 to 48,000;
immobile in soil
ODOR/TASTE THRESHOLDS: N/A
BlOCONCENTRATION FACTOR:
BCF = 27 in fish; not expected to
bioconcentrate in aquatic organisms.
HENRY'S LAW COEFFICIENT:
4.34x10-7 atm-cu m/mole at 20° C;
TRADE NAMES/SYNONYMS:
Adipic acid, bis(2-ethylhexyl) ester;
Bis(2-ethylhexyl) hexanedioate; BEHA;
DEHA; Adipol 2EH; Bisoflex DOA;
Dioctyl adipate; Effomoll DOA; Flexol
A26; Kodflex DQA; Monoplex DOA;
Qctyl adipate; Plastomoll DOA; Sicol
250; Truflex DOA; Vestinol OA;
Wickenol 158; Witamol 320; Ergoplast
AdDO; Kemester 5652; Reomol DOA;
Rucoflex plasticizer DOA; Staflex DOA.
DRINKING WATER STANDARDS
MCLG: 0.4 mg/L
MCL: 0.4 mg/L
HAL(child): 1 day: 20 mg/L
Longer-term: 20 mg/L
HEALTH EFFECTS SUMMARY
Acute: EPA has no data on the acute toxicity of di (2-
ethylhexyl) adipate, or DEHA, which is relevant to the
drinking water context.
Drinking water levels which are considered "safe" for
short-term exposures fora 10-kg (22 Ib.) child consuming
1 liter of water per day: upto a 7-year exposure to 20 mg/
L
Chronic: DEHA has the potential to cause the
following health effects from long-term exposures at
levels above the MCL: reduced body weight and bone
mass; damage to liver and testes.
Cancer: There is some evidencethat DEHA may have
the potential to cause cancer from a lifetime exposure at
levels above the MCL.
USAGE PATTERNS
Adipate is used primarily as a plasticizer, commonly
Blended with general purpose plasticizers in processing
polyvinyl and other polymers. It is also used as a solvent;
in aircraft lubricants; as a hydraulic fluid; as a plasticizer
or solvent in the f~^~ : " ' " Is, eye
shadow, cologne, foundations, rouge, blusher, nail-pol-
ish remover, moisturizers and indoor tanning prepara-
tions; in meat wrapping operations.
Production of adipates in 1984 was 27.5 million pounds.
RELEASE PATTERNS
Sources of adipates include fly ash from municipal
waste incineration, wastewater effluents from publicly-
owned treatment works (POTW) and chemical manufac-
turing plants. Adipates are also used as a plasticizer in
Toxic RELEASE INVENTORY -
RELEASES TO WATER AND LAND:
1987 TO 1993
TOTALS (in pounds)
Top Five States*
OH
IN
VA
TN
Ml
Water
27,471
531
5,500
1,886
18,480
250
Major Industries*
Gray iron foundries 2,263
Aluminum foundries 250
Rubber, plastic hose/belts 10
Space propulsion units 0
Misc In'dust. organics 11,996
Land
425,230
173,900
93,275
46,102
26,409
29,750
316,438
50,409
32,078
20,363
131
* Water/Land totals only include facilities with releases
greater than a certain amount - usually 1000 to 10,000 Ibs.
October 1995
Technical Version
Printed on Recycled Paper
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PVC materials and is known to leach from plumbing
made of PVC plastic. Thus, adipates have been recog-
nized as a potential drinking water contaminant.
From 1987 to 1993, according to EPA's Toxic Chemi-
cal Release Inventory, adipate releases to land and
water totalled over 450,000 IDS., of which about 94
percent was to land. These releases were primarily from
gray and ductile iron foundries. The largest releases
occurred in Ohio and Indiana. The largest direct releases
to water occurred in Tennessee.
ENVIRONMENTAL FATE
If released to air, di(2-ethylhexyl) adipate (DEHA) can
exist in both vapor and particulate phases. The vapor
phase will degrade relatively rapidly by reaction with
photochemically produced hydroxyl radicals (estimated
half-life of 16 hr). The particulate phase can be physically
removed from air by wet and dry deposition.
If released to soil or water, adipate is expected to
biodegrade; activated sludge screening tests have shown
that adipate biodegrades readily, with a half-life of 2.7
days. Estimated Koc values of 5004-48,600 suggest that
adipate will be relatively immobile in soil (and not leach)
and should partition from the water column to sediment
in the aquatic environment. Volatilization is expected to
be very slow (half-life of 160 days) and not environmen-
tally important; aqueous hydrolysis is not expected to be
important except in very alkaline waters (pH 9 or higher).
Dioctyl adipate was not acutely toxic to algae and fish
at or above its water solubility of 0.78 mg/l. It was acutely
and chronically toxic to Daphnia magna at 480-850 and
24-52 ug/l, respectively. A comparison of the mean
environmental water concentration of dioctyl adipate
(<0.5 ug/L) with laboratory chronic toxicity values for
Daphnia magna showed a safety margin of approxi-
mately 3 under present use and disposal patterns, dioctyl
adipate presents a small hazard to the freshwater aquatic
environment. A whole-fish BCF of 27 was observed for
blue-gill fish was far less than an estimated BCF value in
excess of 2700 calculated from a measured log Kow of
>6.11; the difference is thought to be due to metabolism
of adipate by the bluegill. This measured BCF indicates
that bioaccumulation and persistence in fish is not impor-
tant environmentally but may be important in aquatic
organisms that are unable to metabolize adipate.
Occupational exposure can occurthrough dermal con-
tact and inhalation. The general population can be ex-
posed through consumption of foods stored in plastic
films; DEHA is used as plasticizer in various food storage
wraps and it has been shown to migrate into stored foods.
Exposure via drinking water is also possible since DEHA
is also used as a plasticizer in PVC materials and is
known to leach from plumbing made of PVC plastic.
OTHER REGULATORY INFORMATION
MONITORING:
FOR GROUND/SURFACE WATER SOURCES:
INITIAL FREQUENCY- 4 quarterly samples every 3 years
REPEAT FREQUENCY- If no detections during initial round:
2 quarterly per year if serving >3300 persons;
1 sample per 3 years for smaller systems
TRIGGERS - Return to Initial Freq. if detect at >0.0006 mg/L
ANALYSIS:
REFERENCE SOURCE METHOD NUMBERS
EPA 600/4-88-039 • , 506; 525.2
i '
TREATMENT:
BEST AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGIES
Granular Activated Charcoal
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
4 EPA can provide further regulatory and other general information:
• EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline - 800/426-4791
* Other sources of lexicological and environmental fate data include:
• Toxic Substance Control Act Information Line - 202/554-1404
• Toxics Release Inventory, National Library of Medicine - 301/496-6531
• Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry - 404/639-6000
October 1995
Technical Version
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