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Asked by to Claire, Ian, Sergey, Vicky, Zena on 23 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
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Sergey Lamzin answered on 23 Jun 2014:
There are various effects. One is that microbial life will have difficulty forming new membranes as soap dilutes them. Another is that the soap will start forming membranes at the top of the water preventing surface breathing life from doing so.
Concentrations do matter, at low concentration the natural balance may be restored sooner rather than later. The higher the concentration – the more poisonous it gets. Try eating soap for a day. You WILL be sick 🙂
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Ian Simpson answered on 25 Jun 2014:
I’m not sure what you’re asking. If you’re asking what effect does watering plants with soapy water (or if plants have to take in soapy water through their roots) have then yes concentration matters.
Soaps generally disrupt biological membranes, but not all soaps are equal there are strong and weak detergents so it’s not just dependent on concentration. There are some soaps we use in the lab that blow cells apart and break proteins up, whereas others are very delicate and just compete for binding partners with other molecules. These different properties of detergents have been incredibly important in Biochemistry experiments over the years and have helped us understand which proteins are in which compartments of the cell.
So generally speaking plants are not going to cope well with large amounts of detergent, but some will be quite tolerant.
Sergey’s thoughts about microbes could be particularly important as plant rely on lots of the microorganisms that live on their roots to survive. In fact many plants and in particular many trees cannot survive without them they are what are called “obligate symbionts” ! what a great scientific term that is.
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