Electron beam irradiation of textile effluents and non-ionic ethoxylated surfactant for toxicity and color removal

Textile industry has an expressive scenario in the world economy and Brazil is the 5th in the textile production. By 2015, Brazilian textile production represented US $ 39.3 billion, accounting for more than 1.8 million tons of fabric. The effluents from textile industry are highlighted by quantity of wastewater discharged and variety of substances (dyes, bleaching agents, surfactants, salts, acids, among others). Such compounds often prove to be toxic to aquatic biota. This present study aims to assess toxicity of whole effluents, before and after irradiation (by electron beam accelerator, EBI). In addition, the reduction of the effluent color after irradiation is also very important. Daphnia similis and Vibrio fischeri were the biological systems applied for toxicity evaluations. Previous results demonstrated the surfactant as the main toxic compound, in the untreated and irradiated forms, EC 50 = 0.44 ppm ± 0.02 (untreated); EC 50 = 0.46 % ± 0.07 (irradiated). The irradiation was effective for reducing color of the effluent, starting from 0.5 kGy. EB irradiation may be proposed as an alternative treatment for the final effluent from textile processing, mainly for reuse purposes.

Alkyl polyglucoside vs. ethoxylated surfactant-based microemulsions as vehicles for two poorly water-soluble drugs: physicochemical characterization and in vivo skin performance

Two types of biocompatible surfactants were evaluated for their capability to formulate skin-friendly/non-irritant microemulsions as vehicles for two poorly water-soluble model drugs differing in properties and concentrations: alkyl polyglucosides (decyl glucoside and caprylyl/capryl glucoside) and ethoxylated surfactants (glycereth-7-caprylate/ caprate and polysorbate 80). Phase behavior, structural inversion and microemulsion solubilization potential for sertaconazole nitrate and adapalene were found to be highly dependent on the surfactants structure and HLB value. Performed characterization (polarized light microscopy, pH, electrical conductivity, rheological, FTIR and DSC measurements) indicated a formulation containing glycereth- 7-caprylate/caprate as suitable for incorporation of both drugs, whereas alkyl polyglucoside-based systems did not exhibit satisfying solubilization capacity for sertaconazole nitrate. Further, monitored parameters were strongly affected by sertaconazole nitrate incorporation, while they remained almost unchanged in adapalene-loaded vehicles. In addition, results of the in vivo skin performance study supported acceptable tolerability for all investigated formulations, suggesting selected microemulsions as promising carriers worth exploring further for effective skin delivery of model drugs.