As of July 2010, Washington is going to be issuing a statewide law that strictly prohibits the use of dishwasher detergents with over 5 percent phosphorus in them. In July 2008, Spokane banned the sale of these illegal soaps. This has forced consumers to use phosphate-free soap.

It didn’t take long for consumers to discover this new eco-friendly soap doesn’t clean their dirty dishes near as well as the detergents with higher phosphorus content. In fact, some unnamed Spokane residents I surveyed admit they’ve been driving into Idaho to purchase the good stuff.

But that doesn’t solve the problem. The reason 14 other states have already made phosphorus soaps illegal is because the mineral causes algal blooms which undermine water quality and reduce the oxygen supply for fish in our lakes and streams.

In other words, phosphorus is great for our dishes but bad for our fishes. Before the majority of otherwise law-abiding Spokane residents are reduced to bootlegging phosphorus across the border, we need to figure out how to make a dish detergent that works effectively without sacrificing our waters and wildlife in the process. We’ve got 12 months.

Scott Mathis

Spokane