Removal and environmental exposure of alcohol ethoxylates in US sewage treatment

Alcohol ethoxylates (AE) are a common nonionic surfactant employed in consumer and industrial detergents worldwide. Commercial AE are typically complex mixtures composed of > 100 homologous compounds with varying alkyl chain lengths and varying numbers of ethylene oxide (EO) units. Recent improvements in analytical methodology have enabled accurate measurement of the entire AE mixture in sewage treatment plant (STP) influents and effluents, including alkyl chain lengths from 12 to 18 carbons with a range of ethoxylation from 0 to 18 EO units. These improved analytical methods were used to measure AE concentrations at nine sites representative of sewage treatment processes and geographical locations. These new data will make possible a more accurate assessment of environmental risk for AE in the United States. The results indicate that all AE homologues are effectively removed (> 99%) in the most common treatment types. Individual STP total AE effluent concentrations ranged from a low of 0.92 microg/L for activated sludge to a high of 15.6 microg/L for a trickling filter process. For the purpose of representing a national average distribution, an average-flow-weighted wastewater treatment plant effluent concentration was determined for each AE component. The total-flow-weighted average AE effluent concentration was 3.64 microg/L.

Risk assessment approach for untreated wastewater using the QUAL2E water quality model

This paper presents a novel approach for assessing the risk of consumer product ingredients in surface waters that receive untreated wastewater. The approach utilizes the water quality simulation model QUAL2E for predicting the impact caused by conventional pollutants, as well as the exposure concentration of consumer product ingredients. This approach invokes an impact zone concept whereby the receiving water can be thought of as a natural wastewater treatment system. After the river has recovered via self-purification, the ecosystem is then assessed by traditional risk assessment methods. This approach was validated using data collected from the Balatuin River, which is located in the Philippines. Results from this study support the use of QUAL2E for assessing the risk of consumer product ingredients in riverine systems receiving untreated wastewater.

Derivatization LC/MS for the simultaneous determination of fatty alcohol and alcohol ethoxylate surfactants in water and wastewater samples

A new LC/MS method has been developed for the simultaneous measurement, in water and wastewater samples, of all species contained in commercial samples of linear type of alcohol ethoxylate (AE) surfactants including fatty alcohols. The method requires derivatization of the terminal hydroxyl of each surfactant species with 2-fluoro-N-methylpyridinium p-toluenesulfonate, which imparts a permanent cationic charge, allowing all species including the fatty alcohols and those with only one ethoxylate to be effectively detected by electrospray MS. Detection limits of typically <10 ppt for each individual species were attained in treated wastewater, in which total AE concentrations (combination of up to 114 individual species) are not expected to exceed 10 ppb. The method was validated for clean water as well as sewage influent and effluent samples.

The relationship between the interfacial properties of surfactants and their toxicity to aquatic organisms

In previous work, the toxicity of several anionic and nonionic surfactants to rotifer (Brachionus calyciflorus) was shown to be highly correlated with interfacial activity. In this study, the relationship between interfacial properties of surfactants and their effects on aquatic organisms is extended to include the toxicity of the cationic surfactant class (homologues of alkyl trimethylammonium chloride and alkyl hydroxyethyl dimethylammonium chloride) to green algae (Selenastrum capricornutum) and the bioconcentration of linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) isomers and homologues by fish (Pimephales promelas and Ictalurus punctatus). In each case, the interfacial activity is expressed by the physicochemical parameter, delta G0ad/Amin, where delta G0ad is the standard free energy of adsorption of the surfactant at the air/solution interface and Amin is the minimum cross sectional area of the surfactant, or the analogous parameter, delta 1sG0ad/1sAmin, at the solid/liquid interface, where the solid is an immobilized artificial membrane (IAM) that mimics a biological cell membrane. The general nature of the relationship between interfacial activity of surfactants and their biological effects in aquatic systems indicates that sorption to biological membranes is a critical parameter for predicting and understanding environmental effects. While specific interactions probably occur once a surfactant has penetrated a membrane bilayer, nonspecific hydrophobic interactions appear to be driving the sorption process.