Toxicities of detergents used in cleaning chemicals and hygiene products in a test battery of ex vivo and in vitro assays

Five synthetic surfactants used as detergents in cleaning chemicals and hygiene products were selected to test their In vivo and Ex vivo toxicity. The toxicity of one anionic detergent (SDS), one cationic detergent (DDDAC) and three non-ionic detergents (TWEEN 80, triton X-100, genapol X-080) was tested with boar spermatozoa (4 Ex Vivo assays) and PK-15 porcine kidney cells (4 In Vivo assays). The reference toxin used was triclosan (biocide). The results revealed a characteristic toxicity profile for each detergent. The detergents toxicity from most to least toxic was as follow: DDDAC > genapol X-080 > triclosan > triton x-100 > SDS > TWEEN 80. The results also showed that mitochondrial toxicity -measured as acceleration of glucose consumption-was detected for genapol X-080, DDAC and triclosan but not for TWEEN 80.