Characteristics of surfactants in toxicity identification evaluations

The behavior of a number of anionic, nonionic and cationic surfactants in manipulations associated with toxicity identification evaluations was studied. It was found that toxicity of the surfactants could be removed from aqueous samples via aeration, apparently through sublation. Filtration through a 1 micron glass fiber filter also effectively removed certain surfactants; this removal process appeared to be enhanced by the presence of particulate matter in samples. A final manipulation which efficiently removed toxicity caused by all three classes of surfactants was passage over a C18 solid phase exchange column; however, recovery of different types of surfactants from the C18 column with methanol/water elutions was quite variable.