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Diss Factsheets
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EC number: 200-821-6 | CAS number: 74-90-8
- Life Cycle description
- Uses advised against
- Endpoint summary
- Appearance / physical state / colour
- Melting point / freezing point
- Boiling point
- Density
- Particle size distribution (Granulometry)
- Vapour pressure
- Partition coefficient
- Water solubility
- Solubility in organic solvents / fat solubility
- Surface tension
- Flash point
- Auto flammability
- Flammability
- Explosiveness
- Oxidising properties
- Oxidation reduction potential
- Stability in organic solvents and identity of relevant degradation products
- Storage stability and reactivity towards container material
- Stability: thermal, sunlight, metals
- pH
- Dissociation constant
- Viscosity
- Additional physico-chemical information
- Additional physico-chemical properties of nanomaterials
- Nanomaterial agglomeration / aggregation
- Nanomaterial crystalline phase
- Nanomaterial crystallite and grain size
- Nanomaterial aspect ratio / shape
- Nanomaterial specific surface area
- Nanomaterial Zeta potential
- Nanomaterial surface chemistry
- Nanomaterial dustiness
- Nanomaterial porosity
- Nanomaterial pour density
- Nanomaterial photocatalytic activity
- Nanomaterial radical formation potential
- Nanomaterial catalytic activity
- Endpoint summary
- Stability
- Biodegradation
- Bioaccumulation
- Transport and distribution
- Environmental data
- Additional information on environmental fate and behaviour
- Ecotoxicological Summary
- Aquatic toxicity
- Endpoint summary
- Short-term toxicity to fish
- Long-term toxicity to fish
- Short-term toxicity to aquatic invertebrates
- Long-term toxicity to aquatic invertebrates
- Toxicity to aquatic algae and cyanobacteria
- Toxicity to aquatic plants other than algae
- Toxicity to microorganisms
- Endocrine disrupter testing in aquatic vertebrates – in vivo
- Toxicity to other aquatic organisms
- Sediment toxicity
- Terrestrial toxicity
- Biological effects monitoring
- Biotransformation and kinetics
- Additional ecotoxological information
- Toxicological Summary
- Toxicokinetics, metabolism and distribution
- Acute Toxicity
- Irritation / corrosion
- Sensitisation
- Repeated dose toxicity
- Genetic toxicity
- Carcinogenicity
- Toxicity to reproduction
- Specific investigations
- Exposure related observations in humans
- Toxic effects on livestock and pets
- Additional toxicological data
Ecotoxicological Summary
Administrative data
Hazard for aquatic organisms
Freshwater
- Hazard assessment conclusion:
- PNEC aqua (freshwater)
- PNEC value:
- 0.005 mg/L
- Assessment factor:
- 10
- Extrapolation method:
- assessment factor
Marine water
- Hazard assessment conclusion:
- PNEC aqua (marine water)
- PNEC value:
- 0.001 mg/L
- Assessment factor:
- 1
- Extrapolation method:
- sensitivity distribution
STP
- Hazard assessment conclusion:
- PNEC STP
- PNEC value:
- 0.05 mg/L
- Assessment factor:
- 100
- Extrapolation method:
- assessment factor
Hazard for air
Hazard for terrestrial organisms
Soil
- Hazard assessment conclusion:
- PNEC soil
- PNEC value:
- 0.007 mg/kg soil dw
- Assessment factor:
- 100
- Extrapolation method:
- assessment factor
Hazard for predators
Additional information
There is a significant body of data on environmental toxicity effects of cyanides. PNEC values for cyanide are derived from applying a range of AF’s to experimental NOECs, ranging in value from 10 to 100. Murgatroyd et al. (1998) proposed an assessment factor of 10 applied to LC50/EC50 values for higher organisms. When compared to actual data obtained in experimental studies, this provides a 5-fold margin of safety, deemed appropriate considering the steep slope of the dose-response curve for lethal effects. From data in the EAT 3 database, ECETOC (2003) examined the extrapolation from acute ecotoxicity data, to levels which are safe after chronic exposure. For more than half of the situations examined, an ‘acute to chronic ratio’ of less than 10 is evident. For the vast majority of situations the value 70, compared to the current value of 100, is more than adequate, providing a generous margin within the total factor (acute to ecosystem) of 1,000 to allow for extrapolations between the results of chronic studies and safe levels for ecosystems. For the overall aquatic PNEC, species sensitivity distribution (SSD) estimation was utilized. This generates an ‘HC5’ level, which is regarded as a ‘safe’ concentration for 95% of the species (Posthuma et al, 2002), and is used in the current EU chemical risk assessment paradigm that is based on a generic model representing the freshwater and terrestrial environment of Europe (ECB, 2003). No assessment factor is applied to this number.
Conclusion on classification
Hydrogen cyanide is classified as Aquatic Acute 1, Aquatic Chronic 1. Very toxic to aquatic organisms, may cause long term adverse effects in the aquatic environment. This is based on the values of numerous LC50's across many species of aquatic organisms at less than 0.1 mg/L. Hydrogen cyanide is not readily biodegradable, but it is inherently biodegradable upon acclimatisation by organisms in the innoculum.
Information on Registered Substances comes from registration dossiers which have been assigned a registration number. The assignment of a registration number does however not guarantee that the information in the dossier is correct or that the dossier is compliant with Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (the REACH Regulation). This information has not been reviewed or verified by the Agency or any other authority. The content is subject to change without prior notice.
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