Abstract
The change of environmental loads of surfactants was estimated by using the simple model developed from the statistical treatments of surfactant productions. The practical application of this model in the cities of Hyogo Prefecture elucidated that the yearly changes of estimated loads of anionic surfactants (anionics) were in good agreement with those of riverine MBAS concentrations, indicator of synthetic anionics.
The analysis for the nationwide loads of surfactants indicated that the load of anionics reduced significantly since 1993 due to the decrease of production amount itself and the diffusion of sewerage, whereas that of nonionic surfactants (nonionics) remained unchanged at the level in 1992. These results suggested that the environmental impact of nonionics was relatively enhanced in Japan. The analysis for the environmental loads of surfactants in seven cities of Hyogo Prefecture also led to the similar results.
