Pentachlorophenol generally sticks to soil particles, but its movement in soils depends on the soil's acidity. Not much pentachlorophenol will evaporate into the air. It lasts for hours or days in air, soils, and surface waters. It doesn't dissolve easily in water. In soils and surface waters, microorganisms break it down into other compounds.
Sunlight breaks it down in surface waters and air.
Some of the break-down compounds may harm people. It is present in fish, but tissue levels are usually low because pentachlorophenol breaks down in the body. Breathing contaminated air from log homes made from pentachlorophenol-treated logs Breathing contaminated air near waste sites, sites of accidental spills, and work sites Touching contaminated soil at waste sites and landfills Drinking contaminated water near waste sites, sites of accidental spills, and work sites Eating contaminated food, such as fish, or drinking contaminated water, but these exposures are low and are not very common. Researchers have seen similar effects in animals. Impurities in commercial pentachlorophenol may cause many, but not all, of its harmful effects.