Urea
Summary
Persistence. It cannot be excluded that urea is persistent, due to the lack of data.
Bioaccumulation. Urea does not have the potential to bioaccumulate in aquatic organisms.
Toxicity. Urea has low acute toxicity.
Risk. Available ecotoxicological data do not exclude the risk of environmental impact.
The data on hazard and risk are based on previous environmental information on fass.se 2011-05-11. Environmental information is missing (2022-06-21). It is voluntary for manufacturers to provide information about environmental impact on fass.se.
Detailed information
Fass environmental information
Fass environmental information for Caress (urea) from MSD (downloaded 2011-05-11).
Hazard
Persistence: Carbamide is readily degraded in the environment (EPISuite).
Bioaccumulation: Log Kow = -2,11 (Hansch, C et al., 1995). BCF calculation (EPISuite) = 3,16.
Acute toxicity: There are data for 1 trophic level, Daphnia (unknown species) = EC50 3910000 microg/L (48-hr unknown method).
Risk
Available ecotoxicological data do not exclude the risk of environmental impact.
Pharmaceuticals residues in the aquatic environment in Region Stockholm
Urea has been included in the report "Läkemedelsrester i Stockholms vattenmiljö" (= Pharmaceutical residues in Stockholm's aquatic environment) in a table of examples of pharmaceutical substances that were removed with the motivation "natural".
References
- Stockholms läns landsting. Miljöklassificerade läkemedel 2014–2015. Stockholm; 2014.
- Stockholm Vatten. Läkemedelsrester i Stockholms vattenmiljö. 2010. ISBN 978-91-633-6642-0.
Author: Health and Medical Care Administration, Region Stockholm