Phosphates laundry detergents

The new Uquid laundry detergents, with no phosphates, have developed a use for alkan olamines. In nonenzyme formulations, they contribute alkalinity, pH control, and enhanced product stabiUty. In enzyme products, alkan olamines contribute to the stabiUty of the enzyme in water solutions (107). 

Laundry detergent may also contain polyethylene glycol, a polymer that prevents dirt from redepositing on the clothes. This function used to be the job of phosphates. Another polymer used for this purpose is carboxy methyl cellulose, which is derived from natural cellulose but is very soluble in water. 

Ether carboxylates are used not only in powdered detergents but in liquid laundry detergents for their hard water stability, lime soap dispersibility, and electrolyte stability they improve the suspension stability and rheology of the electrolyte builder [130,131]. Formulations based particularly on lauryl ether carboxylate + 4.5 EO combined with fatty acid salt and other anionic surfactants are described [132], sometimes in combination with quaternary compounds as softeners [133,163]. Ether carboxylates show improved cleaning properties as suds-controlling agents in formulations with ethoxylated alkylphenol or fatty alcohol, alkyl phosphate esters or alkoxylate phosphate esters, and water-soluble builders [134]. 

The concept of a soap-LSDA detergent represents a simple solution to the quest for less polluting highly efficient laundry detergents [47,48]. If present worldwide price trends for petrochemicals, phosphates, and other builders continue to rise, the use of tallow or other fats and oils, which are replenishable agricultural products or byproducts, should become economically more attractive. Since the USD A research team initiated research on soap-LSDA detergents, the a-sulfonated fatty acid esters (MES) have become commercially available in the United States, Europe, and Japan. 

A mathematical model was developed for the purpose of predicting the fate and transport of down-the-drain household chemicals in septic systems. Model simulations were in good agreement with field data for the laundry detergent builders tartrate monosuccinate (TMS) and tartrate dissuccinate (TDS). The model was also independently verified with phosphate data collected from the study site. Results from this study support that this model is satisfactory as a screening level tool for predicting the fate and transport of household chemicals in septic systems. 

Phosphates were once a common component of laundry detergents because they soften water. Why has their use been restricted ... 

Phosphates are a nutrient for many plants and microorganisms. In the past, the phosphates from used laundry detergents often made their way into rivers, lakes, and ponds, where they caused the growth of plants and microorganisms, which grew so rampant as to choke off the natural supply of dissolved oxygen—a process known as eutrophication. 

Large volumes of soap are used in industrial applications as gelling agents lor kerosene, paint driers, and as surfactants in emulsion polymerization. See also Soaps. Concern over water eutrophication resulted in a ban of phosphorus in laundry detergents. Phosphates have been effectively replaced by combinations of zeolite, citrate, and polymers, coupled with rebalanced synthetic active systems. Soap itself is generally present only as a minor component of surfactants. 

Cationic surfactants are not used as the primary surfactant in laundry detergents, as this responsibility falls on the commodity surfactants such as linear alkyl benzene sulfonates, ethoxylated alcohols and alkyl sulfates. Nevertheless, over the past 20 years there has been extensive art claiming the use of cationics to improve the performance of their anionic counterparts [67,69,70]. A combination of an alkyl phosphate (AP) and (note APE = alkyl... 

Since phosphorus promotes plant growth, phosphates are excellent fertilizers for crops. (Phosphates are chemicals containing phosphorus. You will learn more about phosphates later in this unit.) Phosphates are also used as food additives, and as components in some medicines. In addition, they are an important part of dishwasher and laundry detergents. For example, sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) acts to soften water, and keep dirt suspended in the water. Before the 1970s, STPP was a major ingredient in most detergents. 

Citric acid is used in soft drinks, candies, wines, desserts, jellies, jams, as an antioxidant in frozen fruits and vegetables, and as an emulsifier in cheese. As the most versatile food acidulant, citric acid accounts for about 70 percent of the total food acidulant market. It provides effervescence by combining the citric acid with a biocarbonate/carbonate source to form carbon dioxide. Citric acid and its salts are also used in blood anticoagulants to chelate calcium, block blood clotting, and buffer the blood. Citric acid is contained in various cosmetic products such as hair shampoos, rinses, lotions, creams, and toothpastes. More recently, citric acid has been used for metal cleaning, substituted for phosphate in detergents, for secondary oil recovery, and as a buffer/absorber in stack gas desulfurization. The use of sodium citrate in heavy-duty liquid laundry detergent formulations has resulted in a rapid increase in the use of citric acid. 

Carbonates. In most areas of the United States, phosphates have been legislatively banned from use in home laundry detergents. Sodium... 

Rau [2] prepared terpolymers of ethyl ot-acetoxyacrylate, acrylic acid, and vinyl acetate that were used as bleach stabilizers in phosphate-free laundry detergent formulations. 

Zeolites, also known as molecular sieves, are important alternative builders for powdered laundry detergents and replaced phosphate salts that were banned for legislative reasons. Zeolites exist in the form of calcium, sodium, magnesium, potassium, and barium salts. 

Medications are another cause of hyperphosphatemia. Excessive intravenous or oral administration of phosphorus is an obvious potential cause of elevated serum phosphate concentrations. Phosphate-containing enemas increase concentrations, especially in those with renal insufficiency. Intravenous or oral vitamin D therapy can increase absorption of phosphorus in the gastrointestinal tract by up to 50%. Bisphosphonate therapy is associated with increased serum phosphate concentrations. Acute phosphorus poisoning as a result of ingestion of laundry detergents is a rare and often unrecognized cause of elevated phosphate concentrations. 

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