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Abstract Sophorolipids are glycolipids that can be produced by bioconversion of native and renewable feedstocks such as rapeseed oil. These attractive surfactants combine green chemistry and a lower carbon footprint without the undesirable side products or environmental downsides associated with many market reference surfactants. Sophorolipids are reported to be fully biodegradable and to have a low acute toxicity. This study demonstrates that they do not affect Daphnia reproduction, and that the chronic toxicity is an order of magnitude lower than that of reference surfactants, with a no‐observed‐effect concentration (NOEC) of 11.3 mg/L as compared to approximately 1 mg/L. Their minimum surface tension was found to be 32.1–34.2 mN/m depending on the method used. Sophorolipids are shown to be useful in hard surface cleaning and automatic dishwashing rinse aid formulations. This is attributed in part to their low foaming profile combined with their surface activity properties, which are of potential interest in additional applications. They combine an outstanding environmental profile with excellent performance, and are thus suitable for use in commercial household products.
Develter et al. (Mon,) studied this question.