Marine environments linear alkylbenzene sulfonates

BIODEGRADATION OF LINEAR ALKYLBENZENE SULFONATES IN THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT... 

Although the marine environment can generally be considered the final destination of industrial and urban wastewater effluents, studies of biodegradation of linear alkylbenzene sulfonates (LAS) in this compartment have been scarce until recently [1—8]. The removal of LAS from the marine medium seems to be an efficient process, as shown by the low levels of LAS detected in samples of both water and sediment [9—11]. High values have only been found in zones close to the direct wastewater effluent discharge points of urban areas [11]. 

Although a substantial body of data is available on the levels of linear alkylbenzene sulfonates (LASs) in rivers and estuaries, fewer studies have been conducted on their environmental behaviour, with reference to the mechanisms involved in their transport and to the reactivity they undergo. Studies of LAS in subterranean water and in the marine medium are scarce and have mainly been conducted in the last decade [2-6], coinciding with the development of new techniques of concentration/separation and analysis of LAS at ppb levels or less. Data on concentrations of sulfophenyl carboxylates (SPCs) are very scarce and the behaviour of these intermediates has hardly received any study. This chapter provides an overview of the current knowledge on behaviour of LAS and their degradation products in coastal environments. 

Lara-Martin, P. 2005. Determination and distribution of alkyl, ethoxysuffates and linear alkylbenzene sulfonates in coastal marine sediments from the Bay of Cadiz (Southwest of Spain). Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 24 2196-2202. 

The presence of some surfactants or their by-products in the aquatic environment has been considered as a potential marker of pollution [45, 325]. Thus, the presence of alkylbenzene sulfonates in groundwater has been used as an indicator of the age of the groundwater [358]. Linear alkylbenzenes can act as tracers of domestic waste in the marine environment [34,35,359,360] and trial-kylamines as indicators of urban sewage in sludge, coastal waters, and sediments [17,33,45,325, 327, 346,361]. Analysis, identification, and characterization of surfactants are extensively reviewed and discussed by Aboul-Kassim and Simoneit [314], while pollution problems associated with these compounds are reviewed by Aboul-Kassim and Simoneit [356]. 

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