The toxicity of cationic surfactants in four bioassays

• Published in: Ecotoxicology and environmental safety 2003, Vol.54 (1), p.87-91
• Main Authors: Nałęcz-Jawecki, Grzegorz, Grabińska-Sota, Elżbieta, Narkiewicz, Patrycja
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Applied ecology; Artemia; Artemia franciscana; Artoxkit M; Bioassay; Biological and medical sciences; Biological Assay - methods; Brackish; Crustacea; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on protozoa and invertebrates; Eukaryota; Freshwater; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Lethal Dose 50; Microtox; Protoxkit F; Quaternary ammonium compounds; Quaternary Ammonium Compounds - toxicity; Sensitivity and Specificity; Spirostomum ambiguum; Spirotox; Surface-Active Agents - toxicity; Techniques; Tetrahymena; Tetrahymena thermophila; Toxicity; Vibrio; Vibrio fischeri; Water Pollutants, Chemical - toxicity
• ISSN: 0147-6513; 1090-2414
• DOI: 10.1016/S0147-6513(02)00025-8

The purpose of this study was to investigate the toxicity of 15 quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) in a battery of four bioassays comprising the bacterium Vibrio fischeri, two ciliated protozoa Spirostomum ambiguum and Tetrahymena thermophia, and the anostracean crustacean Artemia franciscana. The compounds were prepared by Professor Pernak's group at Poznań University of Technology (Poland). The toxicity of the test compounds was very high, with EC(LC) 50 values varying from 0.11 to 70 μmol/L. Microtox was the most sensitive bioassay, while the crustacean test was the least sensitive. Among the protozoa T. thermophila was 5–30 times less sensitive than S. ambiguum. The toxicity of the QACs depended on their structure, but no simple correlation was found for all the bioassays applied.