A high-speed photographic study of gas bubbles bursting at a gas/liquid interface in the presence of surfactant is described. Bubbles were burst in a variety of media typical of those used in mammalian cell culture. In order to test the hypothesis that surfactant reduces cell damage as a result of moderation of the bubble burst, a numerical simulation of the surfactant effect was compared with the experimental data. Surface tension, surface shear and dilatational viscosities were measured in a variety of media containing a surfactant. The rate of bubble jet rise, a readily measured property of a burst, which depends strongly on the presence of surfactant, was measured. Experimental observations in the presence of surfactant broadly agree with the theory in the reduction in jet rise rate, if it is assumed that dilatational viscosity plays a major role. However, measured values for surface dilatational viscosity were an order of magnitude less than those required for an observable effect in the model. A reason for this discrepancy is proposed.