title: The toxicity of cationic surfactants in four bioassays.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the toxicity of 15 quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) in a battery of four bioassays comprising the bacterium Vibrio fischeri, two ciliated protozoa Spirostomum ambiguum and Tetrahymena thermophia, and the anostracean crustacean Artemia franciscana. The compounds were prepared by Professor Pernak's group at Poznań University of Technology (Poland). The toxicity of the test compounds was very high, with EC(LC)(50) values varying from 0.11 to 70 micromol/L. Microtox was the most sensitive bioassay, while the crustacean test was the least sensitive. Among the protozoa T. thermophila was 5-30 times less sensitive than S. ambiguum. The toxicity of the QACs depended on their structure, but no simple correlation was found for all the bioassays applied.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Warsaw University of Medicine, Banacha 1 Street, Warsaw 02-097, Poland. grzes@farm.amwaw.edu.pl
authors.forename: Grzegorz
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nałecz-Jawecki
authors.forename: Elzbieta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Grabińska-Sota
authors.forename: Patrycja
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Narkiewicz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001156:Artemia; D001681:Biological Assay / Q000379:methods; D056890:Eukaryota; D007928:Lethal Dose 50; D000644:Quaternary Ammonium Compounds / Q000633:toxicity*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000633:toxicity*; D014733:Vibrio; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D000644:Quaternary Ammonium Compounds; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical