Nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs)

Nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs) are organic compounds that belong to a larger group of alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs). APEs are made from and break down into alkylphenols, which are are suspected endocrine disruptors. APEs, including NPEs, are mainly used as synthetic surfactants used in detergents and cleaning products. The European Union and Canada have banned the use of nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs) in detergents. For more information, see the article on nonylphenols (NPs).

Uses
Nonylphenols have been used as emulsifiers and modifiers in paints, pesticides, textiles, and some personal care products. They have also been used as plasticizers and antioxidants in plastics and resins. In the 1990s, over 500,000 tons of alkylphenol ethoxylates were produced annually worldwide.

Nonylphenol ethoxylates are more commonly used than octylphenol ethoxylates. The alkylphenol ethoxylates enter the environment through human use of products containing them, through sewage, and through manufacturing waste streams.

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Biosolids
 * Sewage sludge
 * Food Rights Network
 * Alkylphenols
 * Alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs)
 * Nonylphenols
 * Octylphenol

External resources

 * US EPA, Nonylphenol
 * PAN Pesticide Database, Nonylphenol

External articles

 * A Safer Alternative Exists to This Toxic Cleaning Agent, Sierra Club, November 2005.
 * Jun Shan, Ting Wang, Chengliang Li, Erwin Klumpp and Rong Ji, Bioaccumulation and Bound-Residue Formation of a Branched 4-Nonylphenol Isomer in the Geophagous Earthworm Metaphire guillelmi in a Rice Paddy Soil, Environmental Science & Technology, 2010.
 * Klaus Guenther, Volkmar Heinke, Bjoern Thiele, Einhard Kleist, Hartmut Prast, and Torsten Raecker, Endocrine Disrupting Nonylphenols Are Ubiquitous in Food, Environmental Science & Technology, March 19, 2002.
 * Alan M. Vajda, Larry B. Barber, James L. Gray, Elena M. Lopez, John D. Woodling and David O. Norris, Reproductive Disruption in Fish Downstream from an Estrogenic Wastewater Effluent, Environmental Science & Technology, 2008.
 * alkylphenols and alkylphenol ethoxylates, Chemical Encyclopedia.
 * Ruthann A Rudel, David E Camann, John D Spengler, Leo R Korn, and Julia G Brody, Phthalates, Alkylphenols, Pesticides, Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers, and other Endocrine-Disrupting Compounds in Indoor Air and Dust, Environmental Science & Technology, September 13, 2003, Posted on Mindfully.org.
 * Alkylphenolic Compounds - Introduction
 * Alkylphenolic Compounds
 * Fauser P, Vikelsøe J, Sørensen PB, and Carlsen L., Phthalates, nonylphenols and LAS in an alternately operated wastewater treatment plant--fate modelling based on measured concentrations in wastewater and sludge, Water Research, March 2003.
 * Nonylphenols to be Banned in Germany, European Public Health Alliance, 2005.
 * Nonylphenols are Ubiquitous Contaminants of Food, Our Stolen Future.