Surfactant effects on the affinity of plant cuticles with organic pollutants.

To precisely predict organics accumulation and crop safety, the affinity of fruit cuticles for naphthalene and 1-naphthol was investigated with the presence of three surfactants below and above the critical micelle concentration (CMC), including anionic sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS), cationic cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTMAB), and nonionic polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan monolaurate (Tween 20). Tomato and apple cuticles with distinct compositions were selected. With increasing SDBS concentrations, apparent sorption coefficients (K(d)*) of 1-naphthol by both cuticles first increased a bit and then decreased slightly. The K(d)* of naphthalene by tomato cuticle is sensitive to SDBS concentration with a sharp increase and then decrease, whereas SDBS has little effect on naphthalene K(d)* by apple cuticle. For CTMAB with lower CMC, the naphthalene K(d)* decreased more quickly. Tween 20 seems to be ineffective on naphthalene sorption by both cuticles. Nevertheless, the intrinsic sorption coefficients (K(d)) were almost promoted by the coexisting surfactants, resulting from the cuticle-sorbed surfactant's plasticizing effect.