Assessment of environmental toxicities of linear alkylbenzenesulfonates (LAS) including LAS complexes (LAS-C), alkylphenolpolyethoxylates, and their biodegradation products

Linear alkylbenzenesulfonates (LAS) and alkylphenolpolyethoxylates (APE) ar e shown to belong to a major group of surfactant as ingredients of detergen ts and are normally present in raw sewage. Many biodegradation products of these surfactants, such as sulfophenyl-carboxylic acids, nonylphenol (NP) a nd nonylphenoldiethoxylate (NP2EO) etc., and LAS complexes (LAS-C) with cat ionic surfactants are also present in river water, sediment and/or effluent . Recently, the estrogenic properties of the biodegradation products of APE , NP and NP2EO etc., have a great interest for us. In order to assess the r isks of LAS and APE for an aquatic environment, the following are required to be cleared; (1) exposure concentrations of these compounds, including th eir biodegradation products and LAS-C, (2) behaviors on their biodegradatio n, adsorption, and the rate of removal in the wastewater treatment plant, ( 3) toxic and estrogenic effects on aquatic organisms and eosystem. In this review, the recent trends of studies on LAS, APE and their biodegradation p roducts, and LAS-C are discussed.