Phosphate soap ban garners world attention for the Spokane River

Phosphorus in the Spokane River is big news these days. News organizations across the nation and even the world pounced on a story from the Associated Press about housewives who “smuggle” dishwashing detergent laden with phosphates into Spokane County. Such detergents are banned in Spokane County, where the community is trying to clean up and restore the river to a healthy state. Our phones at Ecology were ringing off the hook with reporters wanting to know what we thought about these “smugglers” and the phosphate-detergent ban. “I think most people want to do the right thing,” says Brook Beeler, education and outreach coordinator for the Washington Department of Ecology’s Spokane office. “Phosphates take away the oxygen fish need to live,” Beeler said. “They come from many sources, some of which are very difficult to control. We know that we can make a difference by doing something as easy as avoiding the use of detergents that contain phosphorus.” For years, companies that make detergents have added phosphorus to dishwashing soap as a heavy-duty cleaning agent. Phosphorus was banned from clothes-washing detergents years ago, and dish soap meant for hand washing in the sink does not contain phosphorus because it’s so hard on the skin. But phosphate remained, until last July, in the detergent that is used in automatic dishwashing machines. Soap manufacturers are realizing that the market for phosphate detergents is dwindling, and they’re working hard to produce soap that works well, without phosphorus. The major effect of phosphorus in water is that it acts like a fertilizer and allows algae to grow, blossom, and cause big problems. The most dramatic effect is that it can turn algae toxic, as it did last year in Newman and Liberty lakes. The toxin is poisonous to humans, and when it is present, Ecology posts notices around the affected body of water warning people of the danger. But there’s not much anyone can do about it except wait for the toxin to go away, as it usually does after the first few days of heavy frost. Meanwhile, if dogs, cats or any other animals take a drink or go for a swim, they can die. Besides potentially going toxic, algae also eventually die and sink to the bottom of the lake or, in this case, the Spokane River. As they decompose, algae consume the oxygen dissolved in the water—the same oxygen that fish and other creatures that live in the water need to survive. What happens next? You guessed it—without oxygen, everything dies, and we are left with a dead river. Nobody wants that. We imagine that the people who are buying phosphate-laden detergent in Idaho, where there is no ban on the stuff, are likely just not aware of the damage their actions are doing to the river. That was what one of the “smugglers” told the British Broadcasting Service, when one of their London reporters interviewed her in mid-April. She just didn’t know that phosphates were so bad, she said. And now that she did, she was thinking twice about using the phosphate detergents. “But it’s not just in dishwashing detergent,” she told the reporter. “There are many other ways for phosphorus to get in the river. Soap is just one small part of it. Look at all the fertilizer we put on lawns. There’s a big source of phosphorus right there!” She’s right. Cleaning up the Spokane River won’t happen just by getting rid of phosphorus in dishwashing detergent. But it’s a start. Meanwhile, we are glad to see that people are talking about the issue, and that the news media is covering it.