Environmental issues cationic surfactants

In the last years the behavior of chemical substances in the environment gained increasing importance for nearly all kinds of consumer products. Therefore the industry has developed new raw materials with a better environmental profile. For cosmetic products the biodegradation, toxicity, and dermatological behavior (especially for leave-on products) are the major issues. New classes of cationic surfactants that fulfill the new demands are the esterquats [107]. 

Snrfactants are employed to stabihze the emulsion polymer particles anionic, cationic, and steric stabihzers are all used for the production of latexes, depending on whether one wants a negative, positive, or neutral potential surface on the formed pol5uner particle. The specific anionic options available for use are alkyl sulfates, alkyl sulfosuccinates, and alkylarene sulfonates and phosphates. Standard nonionic surfactants include alkyl or aryl polyoxyethylenes. In recent years, alkyl phenol ethoxylates have fallen into disfavor because of their reported problems with bioaccumulation in aquatic hfe. This still somewhat controversial, environmentally-driven issue has necessitated the use of alternative surfactants which have a lower impact on the environment. Typically, the aryl ring is eliminated to solve this problem. 

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