Healthy adult male albino rats were subjected to inhalation of increasing doses of detergent (dioctyl sodium sulfo-succinate) aerosol ranging from 100 mg to 500 mg. Administration of 500 mg of detergent aerosol resulted in peribronchial and focal alveolar oedema in 3 out of 5 animals. The lungs of control animals which were subjected to inhalation of vehicle aerosol (ethanol and saline) did not show any abnormality. It is possible that pulmonary oedema observed in detergent aerosol inhalation may be due to the action of detergents on the surfactant system of the lung.
Liquid detergent has an increasing demand in North America, Western Europe, and Southeast Asia countries owing to its convenience to use and efficiency to clean. Alpha methyl ester sulfonates (α-MES), an anionic surfactant derived from palm oil based methyl ester, was reported to have lower manufacturing cost, good detergency with less dosage, excellent biodegradability, higher tolerance to hard water, and lower eco-toxicity as compared to linear alkylbenzene sulfonates (LABS). LABS was known as the workhorse of the detergent industry in the 20th century. Although palm-based α-MES was successfully used as the sole surfactant in powder detergent, there are still some unsettled technical issues related to phase stability and viscosity when using this anionic surfactant in heavy-duty laundry liquid detergent formulations. This paper will review not only the market overview of detergents, the application and performance of green surfactants in laundry detergents but also will highlight the technical issues related to the application of palm-based α-MES in laundry liquid detergent and some of the possible methods to overcome the formulation adversities.