Ecotoxicity studies reveal that organic cations in dicamba-derived ionic liquids can pose a greater environmental risk than the herbicide itself

Rethinking the Esterquats: Synthesis, Stability, Ecotoxicity and Applications of Esterquats Incorporating Analogs of Betaine or Choline as the Cation in Their Structure

“…A literature survey also revealed that data presented from different studies are inconsistent: different research groups utilize different tests as well as different bacterial strains to evaluate toxicity, or the obtained results are being presented with the use of different units. Therefore, the standardization of protocols and guidelines is required to ease the comparison of collected results from various experiments, but due to hydrolysis toxicity can decrease by orders of magnitude after a couple of days in a water environment [133]. In the context of the above results indicating that esterquats can have a significant effect on cellular function, the question should be asked whether they can also induce hemolysis or pose safety concerns for human cells.…”

“…There is still a lack of information regarding the toxicity of esterquats for other organisms, such as mammals, fish, shellfish, crustaceans, or algae. However, available data [ 12 , 21 , 111 , 133 ] indicate that they generally follow the same trends as conventional QASs [ 134 ]. Due to the different conditions of the performed tests and the manner of presenting the obtained toxicity data, it is difficult to provide indisputable conclusions.…”

“…There is still scarce information regarding the toxicity of esterquats for other organisms, such as mammals, fish, shellfish, crustaceans, or algae. However, the available data summarized in Figure 13 and Table 9 (detailed structures are given in Supporting Information, p. S58 ) [ 12 , 21 , 111 , 133 ] indicate that they generally follow the same trends as conventional QASs [ 134 ], but are usually less toxic. Commercially available esterquats, TEAQ and DEEDMAC ( Table 9 , entries 1 and 3) were thoroughly evaluated and all data about their ecotoxicity are available in the ECHA database [ 139 , 140 ].…”

“…It should be noted that hydrolysis of esterquats affects the determination of their toxicity in water systems. A recent study of alkyl betainate salts revealed that esterquats solution in a test medium can rapidly lose their toxic properties in a matter of days [ 133 ]. It is more complicated by the fact, that the stability of esterquats is influenced by various factors such as salinity, temperature, and pH of the test medium.…”