title: Effect of the alkyl chain length on the anaerobic biodegradability and toxicity of quaternary ammonium based surfactants.
abstract: The anaerobic biodegradability and toxicity to methanogenic gas production of different alkyl chain length homologs of quaternary ammonium based surfactants were examinated. Two series of these cationic surfactants were selected: alkyl trimethyl ammonium and alkyl benzyl dimethyl ammonium compounds. A simple anaerobic gas production test containing municipal digester solids as a source of anaerobic bacteria was used. Under the applied methanogenic conditions, the cationic surfactants tested showed a very poor primary biodegradation and no evidence of any extent of ultimate biodegradation was observed. The toxicity of quaternary ammonium based surfactants to methanogenic gas production decreased with increasing the alkyl chain length.
authors.affiliation: Dpto. de Tensioactivos, Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo (CID), CSIC, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: García
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Campos
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sanchez-Leal
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ribosa
mesh_terms: D000478:Alkylation; D001421:Bacteria, Anaerobic / Q000378:metabolism; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D002412:Cations; D008697:Methane / Q000378:metabolism; D000644:Quaternary Ammonium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity; D012722:Sewage / Q000382:microbiology; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D002412:Cations; D000644:Quaternary Ammonium Compounds; D012722:Sewage; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; D008697:Methane