Detergent Phosphates in Hawaii

Abstract

This is written in response to your request of 4 May 1971 for information on the relationship between presently used phosphate-based detergents and water quality problems in Hawaii. As you are well aware, organized citizen groups anxious to further the cause of improving thequality of our environment have, on a nationwide basis, singled out phosphates as the number one cause of water pollution. In this they have been encouraged by articles in the popular press (Steinman, 1971), which traditionally thrives on disaster and hence is often more sensational than factual. Thus it is particularly important that the role of detergent phosphates in Hawaii's coastal water quality problems be fully understood before any assumption is made that such problem can be resolved by legislation limiting the use of phosphates in detergents. To contribute to such an understanding without undertaking a comprehensive textbook on the subject, discussion is hereinafter directed to the following aspects: 1. Phosphates and detergent formulations; 2. The role of phosphorus in the ecosystem; 3. Water quality as a function of detergents and nutrients; 4. Sources and concentration of phosphorus in Hawaiian waters; 5. Control of phosphate concentrations in water; 6. Conclusions.