Branched chain surfactants were some of the first used and
manufactured. They were chosen over their linear counterparts
due to increased solubility. However, the very slow
biodegradation of branched chain surfactants lead to their
ultimate replacement with the linear counterparts. The branched
species are still used in some Latin American countries however,
due to its low cost. While human toxicity of branched
dodecylbenzene sulfonate (BCDS) is not significant, its
environmental buildup does pose a serious problem. The mechanism
for degradation of BCDS is not well documented or investigated.
The degradation was studied using a Pseudomonas aeruginosa
strain and found to begin with the desulfonation of the
surfactant. The process is then believed to undergo side-chain
oxidation and leads eventually to the product
3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid (Campos-Garcia et al., 1999). The
steps surrounding the side-chain oxidation have not yet been
elucidated. The following is a text-format branched-chain
dodecylbenzene sulfon