U.S. Geological Survey Toxic Substances Hydrology Program--Proceedings
of the Technical Meeting, Colorado Springs, Colorado, September 20-24, 1993,
Water-Resources Investigations Report 94-4015
  
Linear Alkylbenzene Sulfonate in the Mississippi River
by
Charles F. Tabor, Jr. (U.S. Geological Survey, Boulder, Colo.;
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado at Boulder), and
Larry B. Barber, II (U.S. Geological Survey, Boulder, Colo.)
Abstract
Linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS), the active component in most detergents,
is one of the most common synthetic organic compounds found in natural waters
and sediments. The estimated LAS loading in the Mississippi River basin
is 3,500 kilograms per day. A detailed sampling program was undertaken by
the U.S. Geological Survey to determine the occurrence and fate of LAS in
a 2,800 kilometer section of the Mississippi River from Minneapolis, Minn.,
to New Orleans, La. LAS was identified and quantified in 22 percent of the
water samples at concentrations ranging from 0.06 to 28.2 micrograms
per liter. Most dissolved LAS was associated with the sewage treatment plant
outfalls of large cities along the river. LAS was identified in all of the
composite bottom sediment samples at concentrations of 0.01 to 20 milligrams
per kilogram. Sorption to sediment removes 5 to 30 percent of dissolved
LAS. On the basis of homolog and isomer data, biodegradation is the most
important removal process affecting dissolved LAS.
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