Cleaning Kills!
(Page 3 of 6)
November/December 1970
By the Mother Earth News editors
ALTERNATIVES TO PHOSPHATE BUILDERS
RELATED CONTENT
Consumer's Institute has found that pre-washing with a small quantity of synthetic detergent, followed by washing with a soap works well in either hard or soft water if the clothes are not heavily soiled or made of synthetic fibers. An equally good result over the same field of application can be obtained by washing with a mixture of detergent and soap.
Sodium nitrilotriacetate (NTA), an organic nitrogen compound, is an effective substitute for phosphates. NTA is reportedly about 18 times as effective a water softener as sodium tripolyphosphate (STP), the most popular phosphate builder. Less NTA would therefore be required. Adding a silicate along with the NTA gives the new product soil suspension properties comparable to current detergents. NTA is believed to be nontoxic and biodegradable. It is currently in use, and the annual production could be easily raised.
A possible ecological objection to NTA is that nitrogen is also a plant nutrient. It should be noted that 100 pounds of NTA, which has the water-softening ability of 150 pounds of STP, would contribute only five pounds of nutrient nitrogen to the water as compared with 25 pounds of phosphorus contributed by the STP. Since nitrogen is the least critical, most plentiful nutrient, no change in the amount of available nitrogen would have as great an effect on the ecosystem as the addition of large amounts of the more critical, less naturally abundant phosphorus.
Organic polyelectrolytes are other possible substitutes for STP. They contain only carbon, hydrogen and oxygen and are supposedly equal to STP in water-softening ability and superior in cleaning ability and soil suspension. They are biodegradable and not significantly more expensive than STP.
STOP-GAP PHOSPHATE REDUCTION
Since one of the main functions of phosphates is water softening, it is possible to reduce phosphate pollution now. Reduced-phosphate products should be marketed in areas with soft water and across the country for use by water softener owners. Heavily "built" detergents are really necessary in less than half the American homes, and many consumers are almost forced to buy phosphates they do not need. Detergent boxes do not reveal phosphorus content or any other ingredients, making it impossible for even an aware buying public to purchase products suited to their water. Until phosphate-free detergents are widely available, both low and high phosphate detergents, tailored for hard or soft water and properly labeled, should appear on grocers' shelves.
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