Environment, Water and Ecology. Environmental role of synthetic surfactants.
Background.
In the previous parts of this series of the material posted, it was explained why it is so important to analyze the issues of aquatic environment, water quality, and related issues of how chemicals interact with aquatic organisms (see Part 1, [1]). Also, it was shown that aquatic organisms contribute a lot to improving water quality, as exemplified by the organisms that are filter-feeders (Part 2, [2]).
Goal.
In this material (which is item 3 to continue the series of previous posts on Environment, Water and Ecology [1, 2]), the goal is to consider additional eye-opening information on chemical pollutants of water, especially on the chemicals that until recently were considered as relatively safe, namely, synthetic surfactants.
Location in industrial products.
These chemicals – surfactants – are components of many industrial products of broad use: laundry detergents, shampoo, liquid soap, dish washing liquid detergents, cosmetics, car cosmetics, pipe washing mixtures (including pipes of various use, e.g., pipes for milk and pipes for gasoline), liquids for fire extinguishers, and even pesticide mixtures of broad use in agriculture, horticulture, and in making lawns and playing grounds for golf to look nice.
Variety of names.
These chemicals are known under various names: surfactants, detergents, tensides, surface-active substances, surface active agents.
Quantity. Discharge that pollutes the environment.
The daily discharge of surfactants to waste waters is more than 10 g per an average inhabitant of urbanized areas, which means a discharge of 10 thousand kilogram in a city of 1 million people, which is equal to 22 thousand pound every day or more than 6 million pound annually!
Safe or not?
Until recently the synthetic surfactants were considered as relatively safe chemicals. Their level of environmental hazard was considered far lower than the environmental hazards from the champions of pollution, the notorious ecotoxicants: heavy metals, chlororganic products, PCB (polychlorinated biphenyls), insecticides, herbicides, just to list a few …
Innovation and eye-opening discovery.
The point is that recent research [3 – 5] demonstrated that it was a wrong opinion. A key issue is the issue of criteria to use for assessment of the environmental hazards of chemicals. Recently, a development of new criteria was made [3].
These criteria gave attention not only to easily visible lethal effects of chemicals (increase in mortality of the organisms tested in the experiments) but also to less noticeable sublethal effects (which decrease functional performance of the organisms and finally their health). Moreover, more attention was given to the ecosystem health.
New experiments showed a variety of negative effects of surfactants on bacteria and cyanobacteria, algae, higher plants and invertebrates, including mussels and oysters that are key organisms that are being grown in aquaculture [3-5].
The results on the new approach, and new experiments, were presented in a series of papers [4 ] and the book [5 ]. The results demonstrated that the synthetic surfactants pose a more serious hazard to environment, especially water environment [3 – 5], than it was previously thought.
This is the book [5], in which a large amount of innovative results of bioassay of synthetic surfactants and detergents is presented. As it was mentioned, the experiments discovered many negative effects of these chemicals on bacteria and cyanobacteria, algae, higher plants and aquatic invertebrates.
Bottom line.
As a matter of fact, the discovery is: a new hazard to environment, a new priority in preventing negative effects of chemical pollution, in prevention of deterioration of water quality.
Recognition: international scientific community.
The book mentioned and the related papers were cited by scientists of a number of countries as diverse as U.S.A., Germany, U.K., Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands, Austria, Spain, Turkey, China, Slovakia, and Argentina (in arbitrary order) [6].
Location of the laboratories.
This research was carried out at Moscow State University (Russia), Plymouth Marine Laboratory (U.K.), University of New York (U.S.A.), University of Maryland (U.S.A.), and the Institute of Biology of Southern Seas (Crimea, Ukraine). A concise summary was presented in [7].
Foam and surfactants: a contrasting variety of connotations, including Venus, or Aphrodite.
According to legends of the ancient Greek mythology, a foam produced by sea water was a place of birth of the goddess of love, Aphrodite (Venus in mythology of ancient Rome). Love (to Simonetta Vespucci, nicknamed la bella Simonetta) and the legend on Venus inspired a genius painter of Renaissance, Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, better known as Sandro Botticelli (c. 1445 – 1510), to create one of the most charming images of the cultural heritage of mankind: The Birth of Venus (in Italian: Nascita di Venere; 1486). However, the research project and the book that summarized its results and was mentioned above added some less charming connotations to another type of foam, namely the foam produced by synthetic surfactants.
Location of this post in the series of posts.
This post is No.3 in the series on Environment, Water and Ecology. The previous posts were:
[1] Will wars of future be related to modern science and theories of ecology? Key issues, water quality: scientific fundamentals, achievements, discoveries, bibliography.
[2] on the discovery of the key role of organisms in making water clear http://sergostroumov.scienceblog.com/2012/04/14/discovery-of-the-key-role-of-organisms-that-filter-water-and-make-it-clear/
**
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND KEY SITES:
[1] Will wars of future be related to modern science and theories of ecology? Key issues, water quality: scientific fundamentals, achievements, discoveries, bibliography.
[2] on the discovery of the key role of organisms in making water clear http://sergostroumov.scienceblog.com/2012/04/14/discovery-of-the-key-role-of-organisms-that-filter-water-and-make-it-clear/
[3] new criteria for environmental hazards: http://www.scribd.com/doc/60891549; http://www.scribd.com/doc/49088234; www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12852181; http://www.scribd.com/doc/52636721/
[4] series of papers on ecotoxicology of surfactants and detergents: http://www.scribd.com/doc/49065593; http://www.scribd.com/doc/59417067/; http://www.scribd.com/doc/52634169/; http://www.springerlink.com/content/p7754h672w814m30/; http://www.scribd.com/doc/45914806; http://www.scribd.com/doc/45958156/; scribd.com/doc/59544597/;
[5] on the book Biological Effects of Surfactants : http://www.scribd.com/doc/64066178/;
[6] on citation: www.scribd.com/doc/54504932
[7] summary: http://www.scribd.com/doc/60757545;
Addition:
interesting posts on innovations in environmental science:
http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/normal-0-false-false-false-ru-x-none-x_03.html;
http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/04/environmental-science-key-bibliography.html;
http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/websites-on-scientific-activities-of.html;
http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/blog-post.html;
http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/discovery-of-inhibitory-analysis-in.html;
http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/aquatic-macrophyte-ceratophyllum.html;
http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/04/well-cited-article-inhibitory-analysis.html;
http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/innovative-contribution-to-solution-to.html;
http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/new-scientific-terminology-integral.html;
http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/monetary-estimate-of-good-scientific.html;
Discovery of the key role of organisms that filter water and make it clear
New facts on hazardous biological and toxic effects of surfactants and detergents: paradigm shifted
On the author: http://famous-scientists.ru/3732/
ecological, discoveries, 2012, science, terminological,
Key words:
Venus, Aphrodite, love, goddess, environment, detergents, surfactants, tensides, surface active substances, pollutants, ecotoxicology, environmental, chemistry, water, sustainability; aquatic, ecosystem services, marine, resources, environmental safety, protection, hydrosphere, pollution, control, prevention, decontamination, book, biotesting, bioassay, phytotest, phytotoxicity, ecology, improving, water quality, environmental sciences, purification, self-purification, ecosystem health, freshwater, streams, water bodies, pollution control, sublethal, hazard assessment, aquaculture,