Environmental features of two commercial surfactants widely used in soil remediation

One of the main limitations for a wider application of surfactants in soil remediation is the lack of knowledge about environmental fate and toxicity of surfactant itself especially for in situ application. Sorption behaviour, biodegradability, toxicity of parent compound and its metabolites are important processes that affect environmental fate of surfactants in site remediation applications. Tween 80 (poly(oxyethylene)(20)-sorbitane monooleate) and Aerosol MA+80 (dihexyl sodium sulfosuccinate) are surfactants that have been tested in laboratory and field scale remediation of soil and groundwater. In this work, the sorption and biodegradability of these surfactants were assessed to provide conditions and limitations for their use. The soil used in this experimentation was analysed for organic carbon content, soil bacteria, and size fraction and resulted to be a good model because is characterised by mean values for almost all considered parameters. Tween 80 showed high degree of biodegradability but a high affinity for soil matrix. Results suggest that Tween 80 could find its best application in ex situ solid phase remediation like ex situ bioremediation; its high affinity to soil could limit in situ applications. Biodegradation tests for Aerosol MA+80 show low degree of biodegradability and mineralisation. Biodegradation experiments, coupled with analysis of toxicity, could support the hypothesis that degradation of Aerosol MA+80 is not complete and leads to an accumulation of intermediates with at least the same toxicity of the parental compound. Therefore, aquifer remediation application with Aerosol MA+80 has to be conducted with necessary precautions to avoid product loss and excess surfactant should be flushed from the soil.