Biodegradability and Toxicity of Anionic Surfactants

✍ Scribed by Leal, J. Sánchez ;González, J. J. ;Comelles, F. ;Campos, E. ;Ciganda, T.

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1991
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 368 KB
• Volume: 19
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0323-4320
• DOI: 10.1002/aheh.19910190617

✦ Synopsis

Alkyl sulphates of the general formula CH2, +1-O-S03Na and alkyl sulphonates of the general formula C,H2,+1-S03Na, wheren=8, 10, 12, 14 in each series have been testedfor biodegradability with the modified OECD screening test No. 301 E, and for toxicity wjth Daphnia magna and with Photobacterium phosphoreum (the MicrotoxTM test). The results show that both alkyl sulphates and alkyl sulphonates are biodegraded with the alkyl sulphates degrading more rapidly under the test conditions. The alkyl sulphates also have higher toxicity to both test species and for both alkyl sulphates and sulphonates the toxicity increases linearly with increasing molecular weight of the surfactant.