Predicting aquatic toxicity of anionic hydrocarbon and perfluorinated surfactants using membrane-water partition coefficients from coarse-grained simulations

Gredelj, Andrea; Roberts, Jayne; Kearney, Eoin M.; Barrett, Elin L.; Haywood, Nicola; Sheffield, David; Hodges, Geoff; Miller, Mark A.

Abstract

Anionic surfactants are widely used in commercial and industrial applications. For assessment of their environmental fate and effects, it is highly desirable to quantify the membrane-water partition/distribution coefficient (Kmw/Dmw). Here, we further develop a computational route to Dmw for anionic surfactants based on coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations, validating it against new and existing experimental measurements. Having parameterised molecular fragments for the coarse-grained models, the simulations are used to predict Dmw for molecules where no experimental values are available. This expanded set of simulated Dmw values is then used to derive QSARs for acute toxicity of mono-constituent anionic surfactants in daphnids and fish, allowing for extrapolation to similar compounds without experimental Dmw values. For this study, we have selected hydrocarbon-based (HC) surfactants because of their widespread use, and perfluorinated (FC) surfactants as a challenging case study. Separate daphnid and fish QSARs demonstrate good fits, robustness and predictivity, and highlight differing toxicity relationships for HC and FC surfactants in daphnids. Overall, the combined use of simulated Dmw and derived QSARs is a promising approach for ecotoxicity screening of surfactants.

Citation

Gredelj, A., Roberts, J., Kearney, E. M., Barrett, E. L., Haywood, N., Sheffield, D., Hodges, G., & Miller, M. A. (2025). Predicting aquatic toxicity of anionic hydrocarbon and perfluorinated surfactants using membrane-water partition coefficients from coarse-grained simulations. Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts, 27(4), 1131-1144. https://doi.org/10.1039/d4em00649f

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 13, 2025
• Online Publication Date: Mar 18, 2025
• Publication Date: Apr 1, 2025
• Deposit Date: Apr 16, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 16, 2025
• Journal: Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts
• Print ISSN: 2050-7887
• Electronic ISSN: 2050-7895
• Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 27
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 1131-1144
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/d4em00649f
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3745599