Phosphate detergents and Lake Erie eutrophication; phosphate bans
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
Phosphate made up 15–17% of household detergent by weight in 1969, up from 7–12% in 1959. US states, Germany and the US industry itself later limited or dropped it.
Figures from an Indiana Academy of Science paper cited in the sources reviewed.
Status As of October 2026 research: detergent-phosphate limits are documented from 1973 (Indiana, New York) to 2010 (US dishwasher detergent).
What happened
Sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) was used in laundry detergent as a builder, a compound that softens water. According to a paper in the proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science, the phosphate share of detergent rose from 7–12% by weight in 1959 to 15–17% in 1969.
The research record also carries a figure of the same paper and not independently verified, that of 35.7 million pounds of phosphorus entering Lake Erie from US municipalities in 1967, 25 million pounds came from detergent.
Indiana and New York adopted state bans on phosphate detergent in 1973. The Soap and Detergent Association (SDA), the industry body, brought litigation against such laws and lost on appeal in Chicago in 1975; the US Supreme Court did not hear the application. Germany set maximum phosphate quantities in detergent by regulation in 1980, in force from 1 October 1981.
According to the Wikipedia article on phosphates in detergent, cited in the sources reviewed, the US industry's 'voluntary' phase-out of phosphate came in 1994 for laundry detergent and in 2010 for dishwasher detergent, the latter alongside bans in 17 states.
- 1959Phosphate in detergent: 7–12% by weight
- 1969Phosphate in detergent: 15–17% by weight
- 1973State bans in Indiana and New York
- 1975Soap and Detergent Association loses appeal in Chicago; US Supreme Court does not hear the application
- 1981German maximum-phosphate regulation of 1980 takes effect (1 October)
- 1994US laundry-detergent industry phase-out of phosphate, described as voluntary
- 2010US dishwasher-detergent phase-out, alongside bans in 17 states
What was said
Where accounts differ
Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.
Brought litigation against the state laws.
Indiana Academy of ScienceRuled against the SDA on appeal in 1975; the US Supreme Court did not hear the application.
Indiana Academy of ScienceHow it looked
Shown
- The 1994 US phase-out of phosphate in laundry detergent was described as 'voluntary'.Wikipedia article on phosphates in detergent · Wikipedia
Recorded
- Phosphate share of detergent by weight: 7–12% in 1959, 15–17% in 1969.
- Indiana and New York adopted state bans in 1973.
- The Soap and Detergent Association sued against such laws and lost on appeal in Chicago in 1975; the US Supreme Court did not hear the application.
- German regulation setting maximum phosphate quantities in detergent, dated 1980, in force from 1 October 1981.
- US phase-out: laundry detergent 1994, dishwasher detergent 2010 (with bans in 17 states).
- Lake Champlain, a different lake: a 2014 entry in the sources reviewed records that the household share of phosphorus input fell to about 5% while the lake's phosphorus rose slightly.
Who gained
Reached nature or the ground
Gained elsewhere
Responses on record
- Soap and Detergent Association (1975): Sued against state phosphate laws; lost on appeal in Chicago in 1975. · Indiana Academy of Science
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
- 1975Defendant wonSoap and Detergent Association challenge to phosphate lawsAppeal court, Chicago (as named in the source) · Civil · Soap and Detergent Association → Jurisdiction(s) whose phosphate law was challenged (not named in the record)
The SDA sued against state phosphate laws. The Chicago appeal ended against the SDA in 1975 and the US Supreme Court did not hear the application. Status is read from the claimant's side, so 'defendant-won' means the laws stood. Indiana Academy of Science
Insurers
What nature saw
Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Figures
- Insufficient Phosphorus load lbs: Phosphorus entering Lake Erie from US municipalities; reported, not independently verified.
- Insufficient Phosphorus from detergent lbs: Part of the 35.7 million pounds attributed to detergent; reported, not independently verified.
Accounts
- Disputed Could states limit phosphate in detergent?
Record
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: in 1967, 25 million of the 35.7 million pounds of phosphorus entering Lake Erie from US municipalities came from detergent.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the state bans and the industry's lost lawsuits came before the 1994 'voluntary' phase-out, so the phase-out followed legal pressure.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: Shiga Prefecture (Japan) banned the sale and use of phosphate detergent under the Lake Biwa ordinance of 1979–80; Taihu Lake (China) saw a phosphate-detergent ban after the 2007 algal bloom, at provincial level and in 2008 at State Council level; Brazil's CONAMA resolution 359 of 2005 capped phosphorus in powder detergent at 4.8%.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: NTA (nitrilotriacetic acid), the first phosphate substitute, was voluntarily suspended by industry in December 1970 after an unpublished government report suggested it could cause birth defects.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: in South Africa the Hartbeespoort Dam has been over-enriched with nutrients since the 1970s, the water ministry recommends 'zero-phosphate' detergent and no binding rule exists.
- Insufficient A 1983 'bribery scandal over a phosphate ban' appears on Wikipedia, but the country is unclear and it was not verified.
Did the harm stop?
State bans began in 1973 and the US industry's phase-out of phosphate in laundry detergent followed in 1994 and in dishwasher detergent in 2010.
Who paid?
Not stated in the record.
Sources
Government and regulators
- Phosphathöchstmengenverordnung (1980 regulation on maximum phosphate quantities in detergents)Federal Ministry of Justice, gesetze-im-internet.de · 1980
Press and investigations
- Phosphates in detergent (Wikipedia)Wikipedia ·
Researchers
- Indiana Academy of Science article on phosphate in detergent (article 8182)Indiana Academy of Science ·
Connected cases
- Lake Biwa phosphate-detergent ban Japan · 1977–1980 Related matter