Environmental Fate/Exposure Summary
9-Fluorenone's production and use as an intermediate or reagent may result in its release to the environment through various waste streams. 9-Fluorenone is also found in fly ash from municipal incinerators, and in wood smoke and fossil fuel combustion products. If released to the atmosphere, fluorenone will exist in both the vapor and particulate phases in the ambient atmosphere based on an estimated vapor pressure of 5.7X10-5 mm Hg at 25 deg C. Vapor-phase fluorenone is degraded in the atmosphere by reaction with photochemically produced hydroxyl radicals with an estimated half-life of about 3 days. An estimated Koc of 2300 suggests that fluorenone will have only slight mobility in soil. Volatilization from dry and moist soil surfaces should not be a major fate process for this compound. Based on limited data, this compound may biodegrade in both soil and water. Groundwater, taken from a gasoline contaminated aquifer, was used to inoculate samples containing fluorenone as the sole carbon source; complete degradation was observed by day 11-15. In water, fluorenone is expected to adsorb to sediment and suspended matter based on its Koc value. Fluorenone may volatilize slowly from water surfaces given an estimated Henry's Law constant of 6.8X10-7 atm-cu m/mole. Estimated half-lives for a model river and model lake are 73 and 530 days, respectively. Bioconcentration in aquatic organisms may occur based on an estimated BCF value of 310; fluorenone has been detected in samples of catfish and snails. The general population may be exposed to this compound by ingestion of contaminated drinking water and inhalation of aerosols containing fluorenone.