Occurrence and risk screening of alcohol ethoxylate surfactants in three U.S. river sediments associated with wastewater treatment plants.

Alcohol ethoxylates (AE) are high production volume (HPV) chemicals globally used in detergent and personal care products and are truly a work-horse for the household and personal care industries. Commercial AE generally consist of a mixture of several homologues of varying carbon chain length and degree of ethoxylation. Homologues that are not ethoxylated are also known as aliphatic alcohols or simply fatty alcohols (FA).

Occurrence and weight-of-evidence risk assessment of alkyl sulfates, alkyl ethoxysulfates, and linear alkylbenzene sulfonates (LAS) in river water and sediments.

Alkyl sulfates (AS), alkyl ethoxysulfates (AES) and linear alkyl benzene sulfonates (LAS) are all High Production Volume (HPV) and 'down-the-drain' chemicals used globally in detergent and personal care products, resulting in low levels ultimately released to the environment via wastewater effluent. Due to their surfactant properties, they preferentially sorb to sediments. Hence, assessment of their levels and potential perturbations on benthos are of interest.

Assessment of alcohol ethoxylate surfactants and fatty alcohols mixtures in river sediments and prospective risk assessment.

A feasible and relatively readily available analytical method was adapted for the assessment of alcohol ethoxylates (AE) and fatty alcohols (FA) in sediments. This study illustrates the simultaneous measurement of 38 of 114 possible alcohol ethoxylate ethoxymers (AE) and fatty alcohols (FA) found in commercially important AE products. We predicted toxicity for all identified fractions, as well as the total mixture toxicity, relative to three exposure scenarios via sewage treatment plants (STP) for these widely used chemicals in consumer products and hence generate a preliminary environmental risk screening for AE and FA in sediments.

Aquatic risk assessment of alcohol ethoxylates in North America and Europe.

An environmental risk assessment for alcohol ethoxylates (AE) is presented that integrates wastewater treatment plant monitoring, fate, and ecotoxicity research with a new application of mixture toxicity theory based on simple similar concentration addition of AE homologs in a species-sensitivity distribution (SSD) context. AEs are nonionic surfactants composed of a homologous series of molecules that range in alkyl chain length from 12 to 18 carbons and ethoxylates from 0 to 18 units. Chronic ecotoxicity of AE is summarized for 17 species in 60 tests and then normalized to monitoring data for AE mixtures.

Predicting the sorption of fatty alcohols and alcohol ethoxylates to effluent and receiving water solids.

Alcohol ethoxylates (AEs) are an important group of nonionic surfactants. Commercial AEs consist of a mixture of several homologues of varying carbon chain length (Cx) and degree of ethoxylation (EOy). The major disposal route of AE is down the drain to municipal wastewater treatment plants that discharge into receiving surface waters.