[Doris Ogeleka]

I am testing the toxicity of linear alkyl benzene based liquid detergent on Tilapia guineensis. I made a concentration with serial dilutions of 31.25, 62.50, 125, 250 and 500mg/l. These concentrations killed some of the fish with 96hour. The 96hour LC50 of the chemical was 365.24mg/l. I want to know what chemical reaction took place that caused the death of most of the fish. That is what happens to the linear alkyl benzene fraction when it gets to water. Also what chemical analysis should I carry out to test for the quantity and quality of the linear alkyl benzene present in the soap. If I use an Infra red spectrophotometer what details would it give me. The liquid soap is composed of linear alkyl benzene, sodium hydroxide, ammonium oxalate and sodium carbonate. Thanks

[Donaldson Tan]

why not GLC?

[movies]

The soaps tend to have a lot of sodium hydroxide in them.  I would think that reagent would have a much greater effect than the alkyl benzene, at least over that short a time.  Fish tend to be pretty sensitive towards relatively small changes in pH.