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Surfactants: combating the fate, impact, and aftermath of their release in the environment

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Abstract

Surfactants are surface-active compounds widely applied in domestic and industrial cleansers, disinfection products, and personal care products. The residual surfactants and their breakdown products are dispersed in the environment predominantly via the disposal of sewage and land application of sewage sludge. In an environmental compartment, the concentration of the surfactants and their breakdown products range from a few micrograms to thousands of milligrams. They exhibit a relatively longer life cycle in the environment due to high surface affinity, and antimicrobial and recalcitrant properties, respectively. The findings reveal that prolonged exposure of surfactants with the innocuous microbiome alters the niche, inherits genetic assembly, and further imbibes antimicrobial resistances through the emergence of antimicrobial resistance genes, altogether impeding the downstream recycling of treated wastewater and sludge. Moreover, these compounds exhibit deleterious effects on the environmental niches such as foaming, scum formation, eutrophication, and physicochemical alterations. The personal care industry is going greener by the day, but the demand for chemical surfactants cannot be seen to breakneck anytime sooner. Therefore, a three-pronged approach is necessary to curtail the environmental influx of these compounds, firstly reducing the use of surfactants, secondly substituting the recalcitrant chemical compounds with greener compounds, and thirdly, completing the decomposition of surfactants in the wastewater treatment plants. This review elucidates the nexus of surfactant composition, biodegradation, and environmental persistence with a comprehension of the following topics, (i). Chemical composition and applications of synthetic and natural surfactants, (ii). The occurrence, toxicity, and fate of surfactants and their biodegradation products in the environment, (iii). The mechanism of biodegradation of surfactants by the aerobic and anaerobic microbes (iv). The proliferation of antibiotic resistance in the context of surfactants is highlighted.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge CSIR-NEERI, Nagpur, and IISC, Bengaluru, for providing the necessary infrastructure. Upasana Arora and Himanshu K. Khuntia would like to thank the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India, for granting financial support (BT/PR20408/BCE/8/1304/2016). The manuscript was checked for plagiarism using i-Thenticate software at the NEERI Knowledge resource center KRC No. CSIR-NEERI/KRC/2022/SEP/EBGD/3.

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  1. Environmental Biotechnology and Genomics Division, National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI), Nehru Marg, Nagpur, 440020, India

    U. Arora & A. Kapley

  2. Center for Sustainable Technologies, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, 560012, India

    H. K. Khuntia & H. N. Chanakya

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UA was involved in giving original ideas and was involved in literature survey and writing—original draft. HKK was involved in writing—review and editing and validation. HNC and AK were involved in supervision. AK was involved in conceptualization and review and editing. All authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to A. Kapley.

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Editorial responsibility: Jing Chen.

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Arora, U., Khuntia, H.K., Chanakya, H.N. et al. Surfactants: combating the fate, impact, and aftermath of their release in the environment. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 20, 11551–11574 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-022-04549-2

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