Cleaning Kills!
(Page 4 of 6)
November/December 1970
By the Mother Earth News editors
Economics Laboratory does vary the phosphate content of their dishwasher products, Finish and Electrasol, to match the water conditions in various marketing areas. Proctor and Gamble sells Duz soap only in areas with soft water, marketing a synthetic detergent under the brand name "Duz" in other areas. Soaps are generally phosphate-free. Days Ease Home Products Co. ran Earth Day ads in major newspapers promoting their phosphate-free laundry additive, "Addit." (They should have said that you can use 1/2 cup of the liquid instead of rather than 1/4 cup added to, phosphate detergents.) Addit contains a "small amount" of NTA and has been confirmed phosphate-free by the Students for a Better Environment at Northwestern University. Three direct-distribution companies, Amway, Bestline and Shaklee, also market some essentially phosphate-free detergent products.
RELATED CONTENT
The Soap and Detergent Manufacturers Association has rejected the whole notion of listing ingredients. They claim that surveys have proven their " . . . complete conviction that the average housewife seeing a higher percentage content will automatically equate this to better cleaning." The survey seems meaningless since. the industry has always concealed from the consumer all useful information about the presence and function of detergent ingredients. Despite the fact that many manufacturers had already furnished phosphate content information to the government, I was generally unable to obtain this same information from companies directly. My letters, which asked about phosphate content, were usually answered with a "fact sheet" explaining biodegradability and minimizing the role of detergent phosphate in eutrophication.
COSTS
The cost of eliminating phosphates from detergents is only partially known. Various experts have concluded that the cost of polyelectrolytes would be reduced in mass production. There is no foreseeable way in which the price of NTA could be lowered, however. Either of these alternatives would cost more than phosphate builders. The expense of new equipment to manufacture phosphate-free detergents cannot be known until the exact formulae are determined. It is safe to predict that the new product will probably be more expensive than current detergents. A consideration often overlooked in assessing the "cost" of a product, however, is the damage it does. What price do you put on irreversible destruction of the natural environment? Taxpayers do not often relate "externalized" charges, such as taxes to build and operate municipal sewage-treatment plants sophisticated enough to remove phosphates, to the cost of their favorite high phosphate detergent. We will pay the price; be it in the form of more expensive detergents, taxes to clean up the damage when possible, or in the irreversible destruction of our favorite waterways.
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