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Latest revision as of 07:56, 22 September 2012
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The easier (faster) an organic substance is biodegraded (broken down), the less environmental hazard. In some cases, however, the degradation products may be more dangerous than the original material. If a substance is broken down to more than 60 percent during 28 days of testing, the substance is considered easy (fast) biodegradable. If the substance is broken down to 70 per cent, although for some time, it is considered to be a fully biodegradable substance. A easy biodegradable substance is thus much better environmental choice than a completely biodegradable material, which may be confusing. If a substance is even more difficult to degrade, it is called inherently biodegradable or at worst, persistent. Many organic compounds break down relatively quickly. In such cases it is just a question of whether a treatment plant can take care of the substances and degrade tem even further. If the plant has sufficient capacity, these substances are no environmental problems unless they are toxic. Persistent substances can be dangerous if they also can be stored in organisms (fish, etc.). Knowledge of the combined effects of this storage is often inadequate. Testing the degradability is done according to standard methods, which have been identified by the OECD.