Naslov
Surfactants and Surfactant Metabolites in Wastewaters and Ambient Waters

Autori
Ahel, Marijan ; Terzić, Senka

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Izvornik
Book of Abstracts of the International ESTROM Conference / - Bukurešt : Romanian Academy, 2008, 76-76

Skup
International ESTROM Conference "Environmental Research and Mitigation of Water Pollution in Romania and in the Lower Danube Region

Mjesto i datum
Bukurešt, Rumunjska, 03.09.2008. - 05.09.2008

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Pozvano predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
surfactants; metabolites; wastewater; rivers; Danube

Sažetak
Synthetic surfactants with an estimated global annual consumption rate exceeding 10 Mt, belong to the most important classes of the modern man-made chemicals. Unique amphiphilic design of surfactant molecules warrants their widespread use in various water-relevant applications. Most of the commercial surfactants are very complex mixtures of closely related compounds, including isomers, homologues and oligomers, which makes their detailed analysis an extremely difficult task. As a consequence, many environmental problems, associated with the use of synthetic surfactants, were recognised with a significant time-delay after their first use, mainly due to the lack of reliable and comprehensive analytical methodologies, especially methods for the determination of surfactant metabolites (Knepper et al. 2003). Early studies of surfactants in environmental and biodegradation studies were carried out using different collective spectrophotometric methods for the determination of anionic, non-ionic and cationic surfactants. However, these methods are adequate only for a crude estimate of the total load of the parent surfactants, while there have been several examples in the past 30 years, which clearly indicated, that a comprehensive environmental risk assessment of surfactants must include all possible degradation products, which, in some cases, represent the most critical ecotoxicological issue (Ahel et al. 1994). The problem of metabolic patterns can be addressed only by using highly specific analytical techniques. Recent developments of new hyphenated techniques, especially liquid chromatography – mass spectrometry (LC/MS), have given rise to unprecedented advances in the analysis of surfactants and their metabolites (Gonzalez et al. 2007). This powerful technique ensures high separation power, unambiguous identification and highly sensitive detection of different surfactant classes even in the most complex environmental matrices, opening new routes for their ultimate environmental risk assessment. As an illustration of the importance of the comprehensive analytical approach in the environmental risk assessment of surfactants, this paper will focus on the two prominent aromatic surfactants, including anionic linear alkylbenzene sulphonates (LAS) and non-ionic alkylphenol polyethoxylates (APnEO). Examples of surfactant behaviour and mass balance studies in sewage treatment plants and in river waters, by taking into account both physico-chemical partitioning between dissolved and particulate phases and metabolic patterns, will be shown. References 1. Knepper T.P., Barcelo D and De Voogt P. Analysis and Fate of Surfactants in the Aquatic Environment (Wilson& Wilson’ s comprehensive analytical chemistry ; Vol. 40), Elsevier, Amsterdam, 2003, pp 966. 2. Ahel M., Giger W. and Koch, M., Water Research, 28, 1994, 1131-1142. 3. Gonzalez S, Petrović, M and Barcelo D., Trends in Analytical Chemistry, 26, 2007, 116-124.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Geologija

POVEZANOST RADA