On the degradation of methyl bromide in sea water

Methyl bromide degradation in sea water can be described by a summation of the hydrolysis and chloride ion exchange reactions. Laboratory experiments covered chloride concentrations of 0.1 to 1.0 mol/1, and temperatures from 20 to 60°C. The first‐order hydrolysis rate constant is and the second‐order chloride ion exchange rate constant deduced from the experiments is At a sea water surface temperature of 21.9 °C and a chloride concentration of 0.56 mol/1, the calculated degradation half‐life of methyl bromide in sea water is 4 days. At 35 °C, τ 1/2 = 22 hr.