title: Reactivity and fate of secondary alkane sulfonates (SAS) in marine sediments.
abstract: This research is focused on secondary alkane sulfonates (SAS), anionic surfactants widely used in household applications that access aquatic environments mainly via sewage discharges. We studied their sorption capacity and anaerobic degradation in marine sediments, providing the first data available on this topic. SAS partition coefficients increased towards those homologues having longer alkyl chains (from up to 141 L kg(-1) for C14 to up to 1753 L kg(-1) for C17), which were those less susceptible to undergo biodegradation. Overall, SAS removal percentages reached up to 98% after 166 days of incubation using anoxic sediments. The degradation pathway consisted on the formation of sulfocarboxylic acids after an initial fumarate attack of the alkyl chain and successive β-oxidations. This is the first study showing that SAS can be degraded in absence of oxygen, so this new information should be taken into account for future environmental risk assessments on these chemicals.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Química-Física, Facultad de Ciencias del Mar y Ambientales, Universidad de Cádiz, Campus de Excelencia Internacional del Mar (CEI·MAR), Campus de Río San Pedro s/n, 11510 Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain.
authors.forename: Rosa María
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Baena-Nogueras
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Microbiología Aplicada, Centro de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Crta. De Colmenar km 15, 28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rojas-Ojeda
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Microbiología Aplicada, Centro de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Crta. De Colmenar km 15, 28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: José Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Sanz
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Química-Física, Facultad de Ciencias del Mar y Ambientales, Universidad de Cádiz, Campus de Excelencia Internacional del Mar (CEI·MAR), Campus de Río San Pedro s/n, 11510 Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain.
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: González-Mazo
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Química-Física, Facultad de Ciencias del Mar y Ambientales, Universidad de Cádiz, Campus de Excelencia Internacional del Mar (CEI·MAR), Campus de Río San Pedro s/n, 11510 Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain. Electronic address: pablo.lara@uca.es.
authors.forename: Pablo A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Lara-Martín
mesh_terms: D000476:Alkanesulfonates / Q000032:analysis*; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry*; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000032:analysis*; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000476:Alkanesulfonates; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Bioavailability; Biodegradation; Metabolites; Sediment; Sorption; Surfactants