Surfactants in the Environment

Abstract

Surfactants in the EnvironmentSurfactants are a diverse group of chemicals that are best known for their wide use in detergents and other cleaning products. After use, residual surfactants are discharged into sewage systems or directly into surface waters, and most of them end up dispersed in different environmental compartments such as soil, water or sediment. The toxic effects of surfactants on various aquatic organisms are well known. In general, surfactants are present in the environment at levels below toxicity and in Croatia below the national limit. Most surfactants are readily biodegradable and their amount is greatly reduced with secondary treatment in wastewater treatment plants. The highest concern is the release of untreated wastewater or wastewater that has undergone primary treatment alone. The discharge of wastewater polluted with massive quantities of surfactants could have serious effects on the ecosystem. Future studies of surfactant toxicities and biodegradation are necessary to withdraw highly toxic and non-biodegradable compounds from commercial use and replace them with more environmentally friendly ones.

Cetylpyridinium removal using phosphate-assisted electrocoagulation, electroreduction and adsorption on electrogenerated sorbents

“…An increase of the pH is frequently observed during EC in NaCl solution. It is explained by a partial formation of Al(OH) 2 Cl instead of the expected Al(OH) 3 [11]. As explained below, the effect of CP + concentration on the particular pH variation reveals the involvement of the reduction of CP + during this EC.…”

“…Among these pollutants, surfactants constitute a large class of chemical substances that are widely used in domestic and industrial processes thanks to their physicochemical characteristics such as detergency, foaming, emulsification and dispersion effects. Surfactants are involved in various environmental pollutions with toxic effect on living organisms [2] and have raised problems in wastewater treatment plants [3]. Therefore, the removal of surfactants from wastewater is important in reducing their environmental impact.…”

Aqueous stability and mobility of C60 complexed by sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate surfactant

“…After being used, residual surfactants are discharged into sewage systems or directly into surface waters. Most of them finally disperse in different environmental compartments such as soil, water or sediment (Ivankovic and Hrenovic, 2010). Although most surfactants are readily biodegradable, the existence of surfactants in the environment is obvious in many regions due to the continual discharge (Sanderson et al, 2006;Ying, 2006).…”

Quaternary ammonium compounds in soil: implications for antibiotic resistance development

“…The process has been reviewed elsewhere (Ying 2006;Zhang et al 2015;Jardak et al 2016) and therefore only a brief summary is given here. Generally, QAACs may be utilized by microorganisms as a source of carbon and energy (Ivankovic and Hrenovic 2010;Jardak et al 2016). However, while under aerobic conditions the biodegradation typically decreases with the number of non-methyl alkyl groups attached to the quaternary nitrogen, little if any biodegradation was observed under anaerobic conditions.…”