The environmental fate of hexachlorobenzene.

The relative importance of different environmental fate processes for hexachlorobenzene (HCB) can be estimated from measured and estimated values of several physical properties and chemical kinetic and equilibrium constants. Photolysis of HCB in water and hexane is slow, while hydrolysis, oxidation and biotransformation appear to be unimportant. HCB will sorb strongly to soil and sediment but will be rapidly volatilized from water into the atmosphere, where slow photolysis is the dominant loss process.