The degradation of crystal violet (CV) and malachite green (MG) by potassium persulfate, was investigated by spectrophotometric methods. The behavior of degradation of crystal violet by persulfate was found to be similar to that of malachite green with only one important difference concerning the order with respect to the dye: the degradation is pseudo second order with respect to CV, but first order with respect to MG. The order with respect to persulfate is one in both cases. Degradation of CV by persulfate was effective at pH range of 2-8 and was found to increase with an increase in the initial concentrations of persulfate, temperature, and the presence of Ag + . The factors that were found to decrease the degradation rate of CV include: the initial concentration of CV, and the presence of halide salts and of the surfactant SDS. The rate of degradation remained the same after addition of Co(II), Ni(II) and Cu(II) salts. The activation parameters of the degradation reaction (E a , ∆G # , ∆H # and ∆S # ) were calculated. Finally, cytotoxic study revealed a decrease in the toxicity of the degradation products.