Journal
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
Volume 392, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.122299
Keywords
Cationic surfactants; Gemini; Ecotoxicity; Seawater; Biodegradation
Categories
Funding
- European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant [792945]
- FCT [CEECIND/01329/2017]
- research project SMARTAQUA [BI/UI50/8183/2018, MARTERA/0004/2017]
- CESAM-Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies [UID/AMB/50017/2019]
- FCT/MEC [UIDB/50011/2020, UIDP/50011/2020]
- FEDER under the PT2020 AgreementPartnership
- CAPES [4265 DRI/FCT]
- Marie Curie Actions (MSCA) [792945] Funding Source: Marie Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Cationic surfactants are surface-active compounds that can be found in many products, including household and cleaning agents. As a consequence, they tend to be discarded into water streams, ultimately ending up in the aquatic environment. In spite of this environmental issue, studies describing their effects towards marine species are lacking. The aim of this study was therefore to evaluate the short-term exposure effects of two commercial cationic surfactants and three novel gemini surfactants on four marine species, the green microalgae Nannochloropsis gaditana and Tetraselmis chuii, the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum, and the crustacean Anemia sauna. Furthermore, biodegradation and size distribution of the cationic surfactants in artificial seawater were also studied by UV-vis spectrophotometry and dynamic light scattering, respectively. Ecotoxicity tests revealed that the commercial cationic surfactant N-cetyl-N,N,N-trimethylammonium bromide is toxic to all tested marine species while N-dodecyl-N,N,N-trimethylammonium chloride and 1,4-bis-[N-(1-dodecyl)-/N,N-dimethylammoniummethyl]benzene dibromide showed the lowest toxicity among the tested cationic surfactants. Besides the novel insights regarding the effects caused by these five cationic surfactants, this work opens prospects for the replacement of commercially available surfactants by more environmentally friendly alternatives.
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