Phosphate ban may be eased

OLYMPIA – A year after Gov. Chris Gregoire stood in front of the Spokane River and signed into law a three-county ban on phosphates in automatic dishwasher detergent, major manufacturers are trying to water down the ban.

It’s simply not practical, the manufacturers say, to ban phosphates next year in three of the state’s 39 counties – especially since each of those counties is in a separate corner of the state.

“We are working very, very hard to bring new product to market,” Dave Ducharme, representing the company that makes Electrasol, told lawmakers recently. “We just need a little bit more time.”

House Bill 2263 – already overwhelmingly passed by the House – would leave standing a provision that bans phosphates in dishwater detergent statewide by mid-2010. But it would remove a requirement that the ban take effect next year in Whatcom and Clark counties. Instead, that early ban would apply in only one county: Spokane.

The proposed change has some local environmentalists uneasy.

“Spokane and Clark and Whatcom weren’t just chosen out of thin air,” said Rachael Paschal Osborn, a Spokane attorney specializing in water issues. “There are some pretty serious problems that are caused by phosphorus. We need to get going.”

Like the Spokane River, Lake Whatcom has serious algae problems, Osborn said. She worries that the bill is part of a broader industry effort to delay the switch to largely phosphate-free – or “nil-P” – detergents.

Phosphates, widely used in fertilizers and naturally occurring in animal waste and some minerals, spurs algae growth in streams, ponds and lakes. That robs the water of oxygen, which hurts or kills fish. And once in wastewater, phosphates are extremely expensive for municipal treatment plants to remove, according to the state Department of Ecology.

So a simple way to reduce at least some of the phosphates running into local waterways, Osborn and others say, is to take them out of dishwashing detergents. (Phosphates are typically not in liquid dish soap, and they were banned from laundry detergents years ago.)

Ducharme and other industry officials say they’re committed to meeting a phosphate-free deadline of mid-2010. At least six other states are considering bans for that date. But first, researchers must come up with products that clean dishes as well as current products, then line up suppliers, then modify manufacturing, distribution and marketing for the new detergents.

“We recognize that the train has stopped. We can’t fight this anymore in the United States,” said Jan Wengler, director of government affairs for Electrasol maker Reckett Benckiser.

But the key, she said, is coming up with a product that works. Earlier experiments with non-phosphate detergents in Europe and Arizona were overwhelmingly rejected by consumers, she said.

Electrasol is now between 4 and 8.7 percent phosphates, she said.

“It’s a real workhorse,” Wengler told lawmakers recently. “It helps break down the starchy foods, like macaroni and cheese, and then helps keep the dirt in suspension in the water.” It also helps prevent calcium and mineral deposits on the inner workings of a dishwasher, she said.

Environmentalists note that there are already non-phosphate detergents on supermarket shelves. Lawmakers – many of whom tried them after proponents handed out free samples at hearing last year – are split on how well the alternatives work.

At a recent Senate hearing, Proctor and Gamble’s Pat Hayes passed around two aluminum skillets, a shiny one washed in regular Cascade detergent and a cloudy-looking one washed in a non-phosphate detergent. He said the discoloration was etching of the aluminum.

“There are significant challenges that still need to be addressed,” Hayes said. He said Proctor and Gamble has a research staff of 75 people working on a non-phosphate formula. Part of the problem, he said, is a worldwide shortage of the typical workhorse chemical in non-phosphate detergents: sodium silicate.

Sen. Eric Poulsen, D-Seattle, said he was surprised that a huge corporation used to world markets couldn’t be more nimble. “Or are you just trying to basically get as much use as you can out of a product that’s out there?” he asked. Not at all, responded Hayes.

Osborn said she worries that the big manufacturers are just trying to preserve their markets from being dominated by non-phosphate detergents. And those alternatives do the job, she said.

“The nil-P products work,” she said. “I use it and I have been using it for years. The dishes are clean in my household.”