Comment on “Degradation of Two Persistent Surfactants by UV-Enhanced Ozonation”

• Published in: Journal of surfactants and detergents Vol. 15; no. 6; pp. 815 - 818
• Main Author: Heinze, John E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01.11.2012; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Alkylbenzene sulfonate; Aquatic Pollution; Biodegradability; Biodegradation; Chemical compounds; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Environmental; Environmental assessment; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Laboratory tests; LAS; Letter to the Editor; Linear alkylbenzene sulfonate; Ozonation; Persistence; Physical Chemistry; Pollutants; Polymer Sciences; Sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate; Surfaces and Interfaces; Surfactants; Thin Films; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Persistence; Environmental; Linear alkylbenzene sulfonate; Biodegradability; Sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate; LAS
• ISSN: 1097-3958; 1558-9293
• DOI: 10.1007/s11743-012-1367-7

In a recent issue of this journal, Tehrani-Bagha et al. (J Surf Deterg 15:59–66, 2012 ) state that sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate, more commonly known as linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) is a “persistent surfactant” that demonstrates “low biodegradability.” Tehrani-Bagha et al. further imply that LAS has “harmful effects” on the environment, causing “serious environmental pollution.” This comment reviews some of the extensive literature available on LAS including five environmental assessments which concluded that LAS is of low concern and not a risk to the environment. Published studies and reviews report that LAS passes stringent laboratory tests designed to measure ready biodegradability and demonstrates rapid biodegradation in both laboratory and field studies. These studies and assessments contradict the statements made about LAS in the Tehrani-Bagha et al. paper.