Soap group defends phosphates

Consumers are sloppy dishwashers who need phosphates to do their work, representatives of the Soap and Detergent Association told a group of Liberty Lake officials.

People can change if they understand the benefits, countered local developer Jim Frank.

On Wednesday, four representatives of the Washington, D.C.-based trade group squared off with environmentalists and citizens on the pros and cons of dishwashing detergents containing phosphorous.

Liberty Lake Sewer and Water District is holding community meetings to discuss the possibility of a districtwide ban on phosphorus detergents.

Phosphorous is difficult and costly to remove from wastewater. When discharged, it fertilizes algae in the Spokane River and Lake Spokane, the downstream reservoir also known as Long Lake. Algae robs water of dissolved oxygen, which supports fish and other life.

The district’s new $11 million sewage treatment plant, now under construction, will need significant upgrades to remove phosphorus to levels that the government is expected to require based on a study of Spokane River pollution.

Mary Leyendecker, a chemist for Procter & Gamble, said the company tried to switch to phosphate-free detergents – called Nil-P in industry terms – in Europe and Arizona in the 1990s.

Arizona consumers rejected the products, flooding the company with a 600 percent increase in complaint calls. People even drove over the state line to pick up contraband dish soap, Leyendecker said. Europeans disliked the products, as well, she said.

In the end, P&G soaked up $300 million in losses and closed a plant built solely to manufacture the soap.

Consumers disliked the soaps, saying that without phosphorus, dishes were dirtier and glasses had spots, she said. Some users have complained the soaps turn their silverware blue, Leyendecker said.

Phosphorus is necessary for breaking down stubborn calcium-based substances found in cheeses and teas, she argued. Nil-P detergents work well for people who presoak dishes and don’t overload their dishwashers, but those people are in the minority, Leyendecker said.

Rachael Paschal Osborn, attorney for the Sierra Club, said she has used phosphate-free detergent for about two years. Her dishes are clean, said Paschal Osborn, who joked that when she burns dinner, she expects to have a good scrub.

When bans on laundry detergents with phosphorous were implemented across the country, the soap industry adapted and clothes still got clean, she said.

“Laundry detergents clean just as well today as when they contained phosphorus, and washing machines last just as long,” Paschal Osborn said.

The trade association cited a Minnesota study that found only 1.9 percent of phosphorus in the environment could be traced to dishwasher detergent. But Paschal Osborn later offered statistics from a Montana study that showed dish detergents contributed 15 percent to 20 percent of the phosphorus entering a wastewater treatment plant.

Patrick Hayes, a lobbyist for the detergent trade group, said phosphorus has become an increasingly important ingredient because energy-efficient dishwashers use colder water.

The trade group, which represents 100 companies, including those that manufacture non-phosphorus soaps, said Nil-P accounts for less than 1 percent of sales. “Consumers are simply not taking to these products,” Hayes said.

Chris Bowers, a local resident, said it’s up to consumers to make responsible purchases. “Crisis will lead us back to some form of consumer responsibility,” he said.