Biological activity and environmental impact of anionic surfactants
Section snippets
Chemistry and physicochemistry
Anionic surfactants are amphipatic compounds consisting of a hydrophobic (alkyl chains of various length, alkylphenyl ethers, alkylbenzenes, etc.) and a hydrophilic part (carboxyl, sulfate, sulfonates, phosphates, etc). It has been established many times that the hydrophobic and hydrophilic parts readily interact with the polar and apolar substructures in marcomolecules such as proteins Yamaguchi et al., 1999, Xiao et al., 2000, and cellulose (Griffiths and Howe, 1998) or with the polar or
Biological activity
Anionic surfactants themselves show marked biological activity too either by binding to various bioactive macromolecules such as starch (Merta and Stenius, 1999), proteins (Nielsen et al., 2000), peptides and DNA (Marques et al., 2000) or by inserting into various cell fragments (i.e. phospholipid membranes) causing misfunction.
Adjuvant effects in pharmaceutical formulations
Anionic surfactants can considerably influence the biological efficiency of the active ingredients in pharmaceutical formulations (Gould et al., 2000) either by direct binding to the drug (Seedher, 2000) or by influencing the adsorption and absorption processes and the partition of drugs between hydrophobic and hydrophilic compartments in the organs and organisms (Yushmanov et al., 1994). The beneficial effect of surfactants on the dissolution rate and release of various active ingredients has
Ground and waste waters: pollution and purification
Because of extensive application, a considerable amount of anionic surfactants are released in the environment causing serious pollution of rivers (Odokuma and Okpokwasili, 1997) and sea Baglimieri et al., 1980, Romano and Garabetian, 1996 and can accumulate sludge sewage treatment flow (Holt et al., 1995). The concentration of anionic surfactants in rivers and lakes showed marked variation according to the season (Marcomini et al., 2000) and the distance of residential districts Inaba and
Conclusions
The advantageous physicochemical characteristics of anionic surfactants resulted in their industrial scale production and application all over the world. Besides the beneficial effects, they show marked toxicity and can cause marked environmental pollution. The molecular basis of their biological and toxicological activity is not entirely understood. They can bind to proteins modifying the activity of various enzymes or to other cell constituents resulting in misfunction. The quantitative
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the grant HP-206 from the Ministry of Environmental Protection.
References (196)
- et al.
An investigation into the effects of surfactants on phospholipid monolayers using a Langmuir–Blodgett film balance
Int. J. Pharm.
(1994) - et al.
Structures formed by interactions in solid dispersions of the system polyethylene glycol-griseofulvin with charged and non charged surfactants added
Int. J. Pharm.
(1993) - et al.
Surfactants effect in percutaneous absorption: I. Effects on transdermal flux of methyl nicotinate
Int. J. Pharm.
(1992) - et al.
Direct and indirect ecotoxicological effects of alkyl sulfate and alkyl ethoxysulfate on macroinvertebrates in stream mesocosm
Aquat. Toxicol.
(1995) - et al.
Reaction of lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase with a water soluble substrate: effects of surfactants
Biochim. Biophys. Acta
(1993) - et al.
Extraction of lysozyme, alpha-chymotrypsin, and pepsin into reversed micelles formed using an anionic surfactant, isooctane and water
Enzyme Microb. Technol.
(1994) - et al.
Spectrometric studies about some dyes—anionic surfactant interactions in aqueous solutions
Talanta
(2000) - et al.
Study of adjuvant effect of model surfactants from the groups of alkyl sulfates, alkylbenzenesulfonates, alcohol ethoxylate and soaps
Food Chem. Toxicol.
(2000) - et al.
Comparative effects of anionic, natural bile acid surfactants and mixed micelles on the intestinal absorption of the anthelmintic albendazole
Int. J. Pharm.
(1993) - et al.
The effects of lipids and detergents on ATPase-active P-glycoprotein
Biochim. Biophys. Acta
(1993)
Heterogeneous dissolution of benzo(a)pyrene by surfactant solutions
Colloids Surf., A
Adsorption of metal ion and aromatic compounds by anionic surfactants-coated particles of titanium dioxide
Colloids Surf., A
Compared effects of synthetic and natural bile acid surfactants on xenobiotic absorption: II. Studies with sodium glycocholate to confirm a hypothesis
Int. J. Pharm.
Evaluation of surfactant cytotoxicity potential by primary cultures of ocular tissues: I. Characterization of rabbit corneal epithelial cells and initial injury and delayed toxicity studies
Toxicology
Biofilm of Pseudomonas C12B on glass support as catalytic agent for continuous SDS removal
Int. Biodeterior. Biodegrad.
An alternative study of the skin irritant effect of an homologous series of surfactants
Toxic In Vitro
A comparison of two cytotoxicity tests for predicting the ocular irritancy of surfactants
Toxic In Vitro
Pole(ethoxy)anionic surfactants: micellization and adsorption at the solid/liquid interface
Colloids Surf., A
A comparative study of the adsorption of linear alkyl sulphates and alkylbenzene sulphonates on river sediments
Colloids Surf.
Bacterial cell hydrophobicity is modified during the biodegradation of anionic surfactants
FEMS Microbiol. Lett.
Selection of surfactants for the removal of petroleum products from shallow sandy aquifers
Ground Water
Removal efficiency of anionic and nonionic surfactants from chemical wastewater by a treatment plant using activated carbon adsorption and coagulation precipitation processes
Environ. Technol.
Boundary conditions and soil attribute impacts on anionic surfactant mobility in unsaturated soil
Ground Water
Damaging effect of detergents on human lymphocytes
Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol.
Effect of different surfactants on the mobility of selected nonionic pesticides in soil
Chemosphere
Profile of hemoproteins and heme-metabolizing enzymes in rats treated with surfactants
Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol.
Problems of stirage of various substances found in the interstitial waters on the surface sediments of the French continental shelf
Prog. Water Technol.
Pentachlorophenol interactions with soil
Water Air Soil Pollut.
Microemulsion formation with chlorinated hydrocarbons of differing polarity
Environ. Sci. Technol.
Response of invertebrates and fish to alkyl sulfate and alkyl ethoxylate sulfate anionic surfactants during chronic exposure
Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol.
The accumulation in lysosomes of the anionic detergent linear alkylbenzene sulfonate
Environ. Toxicol. Chem.
Acute toxicity of fire-control chemicals, nitrogen chemicals, and surfactants to rainbow trout
Trans. Am. Fish Soc.
In situ modification of an aquifer material by a cationic surfactant to enhance retardation of organic contaminants
J. Contam. Hydrol.
Wastewater treatment by infiltration basins: usefulness and limits sewage plant in Creances (France)
Water Sci. Technol.
Acute and chronic effects of an anionic surfactant on some freshwater tubific species
Hydrobiologia
Progress in the studies of surface forces
Colloid J.
The effect of surfactants on peat dewatering
Can. J. Chem. Eng.
Characterization and modeling of the extraction kinetics of organic acids considering boundary layer charge effects
Chem. Eng. Technol.
Removal of arsenic from geothermal fluids by adsorptive bubble flotation with colloidal ferric hydroxide
Environ. Sci. Technol.
Distribution of chemical polluting factors in South Italian seas along Calabria waters (low Tyrrhenian sea, high Ionian sea and straits of Messina)
Water Sci. Technol.
Aqueous ozonation of surfactants: a review
Ozone: Sci. Eng.
Aerobic biodegradability of surfactants at low concentrations using an automated pressure transducer system
Chemosphere
Inhibition effect of the anionic surfactant SDS on duckweed, Lemna minor with consideration of growth and accumulation
Chemosphere
A model for anionic surfactant sorption
Environ. Sci. Technol.
Sorption-desorption of 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene on soil: anionic surfactant and cationic polyelectrolyte effects
J. Environ. Qual.
Use of surfactants to enhance the removal of PAHs from soil
Polycycl. Aromat. Compd.
Structure–activity relationships for acute and chronic toxicity of alcohol ether sulfates
Environ. Toxicol. Chem.
Differential scanning calorimetry and permeation studies to examine surfactant damage to human skin
J. Toxicol., Cutan. Ocul. Toxicol.
Simultaneous adsorption of sugar-persubstituted poly(amidoamine) dendrimers and anionic surfactants at the alumina/aqueous solution interface
Langmuir
Micellar solubilization of clofazimine analogues in aqueous solutions of ionic and nonionic surfactants
Pharm. Res.
Cited by (456)
Ion flotation for heavy metal removal with biosurfactant sodium lauroyl methyl isethionate: Operational parameters and removal mechanism
2024, Separation and Purification TechnologyPlant polyphenol surfactant construction with strong surface activity and chelation properties as efficient decontamination of UO<inf>2</inf><sup>2+</sup> on cotton fabric
2024, International Journal of Biological MacromoleculesComparative subcellular responses to pharmaceutical exposures in the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis: An in vitro study
2023, Environmental Toxicology and PharmacologyIn vitro screening of imidazolium and pyrrolidinium based ionic liquids toxicity on subcellular fractions of the Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis
2023, Environmental Toxicology and PharmacologyMechanistic insights into surfactant in enhanced reductive degradation of perchlorinated organic contaminants in Fenton system
2023, Separation and Purification Technology