Ingredient Safety Information
Alkyl (or Alcohol) Ethoxy Sulphates (AES)
AES is a widely used class of anionic surfactants. AES mixtures are used in household cleaning products, personal care products, institutional cleaners and industrial cleaning processes.
The aquatic toxicity of AES has been reviewed by several authors. The large number of acute and chronic values reported for various homologues and mixtures reveal that no particular species is uniquely sensitive to AES. Depending on the exact variant, AES toxicity ranges from very toxic (EC50 below 1 mg per litre in short-term tests) to not harmful (EC50 above 100 mg per litre) to aquatic organisms
AES mixtures with a wide range of homologue distributions are readily biodegradable. AES degradation has been demonstrated in raw sewage, activated sludge, river water estuarine water and soil. AES degradation does not produce any persistent metabolites and the aquatic toxicity decreases over the course of the degradation
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The aquatic toxicity of AES has been reviewed by several authors. The large number of acute and chronic values reported for various homologues and mixtures reveal that no particular species is uniquely sensitive to AES. Depending on the exact variant, AES toxicity ranges from very toxic (EC50 below 1 mg per litre in short-term tests) to not harmful (EC50 above 100 mg per litre) to aquatic organisms
AES mixtures with a wide range of homologue distributions are readily biodegradable. AES degradation has been demonstrated in raw sewage, activated sludge, river water estuarine water and soil. AES degradation does not produce any persistent metabolites and the aquatic toxicity decreases over the course of the degradation
Read more, ingredient info sheet
(PDF file)Put into filesafe
Read the full risk assessment in www.heraproject.com
Some Publications by P&G Scientists
- Belanger SE, Meiers EM & Bausch RG (1995) Direct and indirect ecotoxicological effects of alkyl sulphate and alkyl ethoxysulfate on macroinvertebrates in stream mesocosms. Aquatic Toxicol. 33: 65-87.
- Dyer SD, Stanton DT, Lauth JR & Cherry DS (2000) Structure-activity relationships for acute and chronic toxicity of alcohol ether sulfates. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 19: 608-616.
- Federle TW, Gasior SD & Nuck BA (1997) Extrapolating mineralization rates from the ready CO2 screening test to activated sludge, river water, and soil. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 16(2):127-134
- Matthijs et al (1999) Environm Tox Chem 19: 2635-2644
- Nuck B.A., Federle T.W. (1996). A batch test for assessing the mineralisation of 14C-radiolabeled compounds under realistic conditions. Envir. Science Technol. 30, 3597-3603
- van de Plassche EJ, et al. (1999) Predicted no-effect concentrations and risk characterization of four surfactants: Linear alkyl benzene sulfonate, alcohol ethoxylates, alcohol ethoxylated sulfates, and soap. ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY 18 (11): 2653-2663
- Yoshirmura K & Masuda F (1982) Biodegradation of Sodium Alkyl Poly(oxyalkylene)sulfates J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc. 59:328-332
