Anionic surfactants
Anionic surfactants are the most widely used type of surfactant for laundering, dishwashing liquids and shampoos because of their excellent cleaning and high foaming potential.
Anionic surfactants enter surface waters mainly by discharge from industries, soap manufacturers and private households. They can cause even at a low concentration serious environmental pollution with toxic effect on living organisms. A highly sensitive method and removal of interfering substances is necessary for the determination of these surfactants in water.
Skalar has developed a highly accurate and reliable application for detecting low levels of anionic surfactants in all kind of water samples for the SAN++ continuous flow analyzer.
Skalar MBAS method
Skalar's method is based on the MBAS (Methylene Blue Active Substances) index, according to ISO 16265: 2009 and EN 903. This is an analytical method used for water quality control purposes. It measures surfactants and other substances that react with Methylene blue. The dye Methylene blue, reacts in aqueous solution with anionic type surface materials to form a blue colored complex. The complex is extractable into chloroform. Unlike the original method, dialysis blocks with special membranes are used for the phase separation. The chloroform phase is measured at 650 nm. Interferences are removed by a counter extraction using an acidic methyl blue solution.
Application performance
If you require more information on the MBAS application above or other Skalar analyzers, please do not hesitate to contact us