Investigations on the biodegradation of alkylpolyglucosides by means of liquid chromatography–electrospray mass spectrometry

Abstract

The biodegradation of alkylpolyglucosides (APGs) was studied under the conditions of the OECD Screening Test with activated sludge as an inoculum. An influence of alkyl and sugar chain length on the biodegradation rate and a central scission pathway of the biodegradation were investigated. The liquid chromatography-electrospray mass spectrometry technique was used for alkylpolyglucoside analysis and for identification and semiquantitative determination of metabolites. It was found that APGs with a longer alkyl chain were biodegraded faster than those with a shorter one. However, a longer sugar chain caused slower biodegradation of APGs. The central scission pathway of biodegradation was also confirmed.

Research on Primary Biodegradation of Alkyl Ethoxy Glucoside

“…This suggests that the degradation mechanism of AEG is the same as that of APG. The anaerobic degradation rate of APG and AEG reached 100 % after 88 h and the data is consistent with the result of the biodegradation of APG under aerobic conditions reported by Zgoła-Grzeskowiak [10]. These results show that AEG could be readily biodegraded whether in the aerobic condition or in the anaerobic condition.…”

“…Higher initial concentrations, however, show a slightly slower degradation rate. The reason may be that AEG forms micelles, and only a small part of the carbon source could be productively used by bacteria and this impeded the biodegradation [10]. There is a phenomenon that the degradation degree decreases in the course of degradation.…”

Effect of Concentration on the Primary and Ultimate Biodegradation of Alkylpolyglucosides in Aerobic Biodegradation Tests

“…Also, it may be because APG 650 is hardly soluble at high concentrations. This surfactant forms suspensions, and only a small part of this APG may be available to bacteria and subjected to biodegradation (Zgola-Grzeskowiak et al, 2008). Therefore, on increasing the surfactant concentration, the biodegradation rate slowed.…”

“…The alkylpolyglucosides (APGs) belong to non-ionic surfactants of growing use. Because of their good foaming properties and synergy with other surfactants, they have found application in dishwashing and laundry detergents and in other cleaning products (Zgola-Grzeskowiak et al, 2008). Also, their good skin tolerance makes them suitable for mild personal-care products (Kuhn and Neubert, 2004).…”

“…Biodegradability testing plays a key role in the assessment of the environmental behavior of surfactants. Numerous tests are used for measuring biodegradation (Zgola-Grzeskowiak et al, 2008); among them, standardized tests can be found in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (Paris, France) (OECD, 1993(OECD, , 2001.…”