Research progress of surfactant biodegradation

Due to various function in solubilisation, dispersion, emulsification, corrosion inhibition, biocidal properties, lubricity and viscosity modification, surfactants are widely applied in industrial, agricultural, pharmaceutical, food, cosmetic and other fields. Surfactants bring convenience to people, but meanwhile, resulting in the accumulation of numerous of toxic or harmful substances in the environment and causing serious ecological problems, even threatening human health. So it's an urgent problem to be solved to degrade the surfactant in the environment. The biodegradation of surfactants is a highly efficient, safe, environmentally friendly and widely used method. This paper discusses the biodegradation of different surfactants, the mechanism for biodegradation, the factors that affect biodegradation and methods of detecting biodegradability.