Occurrence of Surface Active Agents in the Environment

Abstract

Due to the specific structure of surfactants molecules they are applied in different areas of human activity (industry, household). After using and discharging from wastewater treatment plants as effluent stream, surface active agents (SAAs) are emitted to various elements of the environment (atmosphere, waters, and solid phases), where they can undergo numerous physic-chemical processes (e.g., sorption, degradation) and freely migrate. Additionally, SAAs present in the environment can be accumulated in living organisms (bioaccumulation), what can have a negative effect on biotic elements of ecosystems (e.g., toxicity, disturbance of endocrine equilibrium). They also cause increaseing solubility of organic pollutants in aqueous phase, their migration, and accumulation in different environmental compartments. Moreover, surfactants found in aerosols can affect formation and development of clouds, which is associated with cooling effect in the atmosphere and climate changes. The environmental fate of SAAs is still unknown and recognition of this problem will contribute to protection of living organisms as well as preservation of quality and balance of various ecosystems. This work contains basic information about surfactants and overview of pollution of different ecosystems caused by them (their classification and properties, areas of use, their presence, and behavior in the environment).

Selected anionic and cationic surface active agents: case study on the Kłodnica sediments

“…Moreover, the trend that a higher concentration was determined for compounds with longer alkyl chains can clearly be observed. Research result confirm that LAS C 12 and LAS C 13 (more hydrophobic compounds than LAS C 10 and LAS C 11 ) have greater sorption ability on the solid phase (sediment) in aquatic ecosystems (Ying 2006;Sablayrolles et al 2009;Olkowska et al 2014). At sampling points O-1, O-6 and O-8 levels of determined anionic surfactants were highest.…”

“…It should be mentioned that in the case of liquidated mines in area of the Bytomka catchment dewatering is also applied so as to ensure the safety of active mines (Lach et al 2004). The impact of pollution from industrial and municipal areas on this ecosystem is observed as changes in the hydrographic network of rivers and the quality of its waters (Trochim 2006;Ruman et al 2014). As a consequence of the previously mentioned aspects the River Kłodnica was selected as a research area.…”

“…It should be noted that the presence of surfactants and their biodegradation products in ecosystems can result in toxic effects on fish and other aquatic organisms, especially in the bottom zone. It is very important to conduct constant monitoring of the concentrations of surfactants in water and wastewater, especially anionic compounds which have the largest world production (~60%) (Ogonowski and Tomaszkiewicz-Potepa 1999;Zieliński, 2009;Strugała-Wilczek et al 2013;Olkowska et al 2014). The points mentioned above result in the emission of contaminants to the environment where they can freely migrate between components and undergo different physicochemical processes (e.g.…”

“…The points mentioned above result in the emission of contaminants to the environment where they can freely migrate between components and undergo different physicochemical processes (e.g. sorption, biodegradation) (Olkowska et al 2014) or become persistent pollutants (e.g. LAS under anaerobic conditions).…”

“…It has been found that the longer the alkyl chain LAS homologues have, the higher the octanol/water partition coefficient (K o/w ). Such dependence will result in greater contamination of the solid phases of aquatic bodies with substances with a longer chain because they possess a greater ability for sorption on solids (Ying 2006;Sablayrolles et al 2009;Olkowska et al 2014). Moreover, in various parts of ecosystems they can disturb the balance of processes such as cloud formulation, distribution of organic compounds and long distance transport of contamination (Ying 2006).…”