Bromination, chlorination and hydroxylation were carried out on the hydrophobic chain of several commercially available nonionic surfactants in order to modify their hydrophobic characteristics without changing their hydrqphilic iroities- Ethoxy-lated oleyl alcohols, as well as ethoxylated oleic acid, and polyglycerol esters were examined and it was found that paraf-finic oil in water emulsions can be stabilized using these new surfactants. The derivatization of the nonionic surfactants increased their overall hydrophilicity and as a result higher HLB value was obtained for any of the surfactants.It should be noted that inspite the fact that hydrqphilic groups were introduced into the hydrocarbonic chain, stable emulsions were prepared and in some cases even better stabilities were measured.