Research on Primary Biodegradation of Alkyl Ethoxy Glucoside

This investigation was performed to determine the anaerobic biodegradation of alkyl ethoxy glucoside (AEG) nonionic surfactants using the OECD 311 method. The influence of different initial concentrations of AEG on the primary biodegradation rate was investigated using the anthrone analysis method. The results show that different initial concentrations have similar good biodegradability and the biodegradation rate can reach more than 90 % even at the highest initial concentration of 100 mg/l. Alkyl polyglucoside (APG) surfactants have previously been confirmed as readily biodegradable. The profile of concentration changes over the incubation time of AEG and APG had similar trends. Therefore, AEG are also considered as readily biodegradable. The gas chromatograph‐mass spectrometer analytical method was used to identify the metabolites. The content of alcohol ethoxylate (AEO) increased with decrease in the number of AEG at the initial stage of degradation. It was found that AEO with longer EO chains disappeared first. Accordingly, a degradation pathway that accounts for the experiment results was proposed.