Dishwasher detergent may make your stemware sparkle, but the phosphates contained in most brands are among the most damaging pollutants in the Chesapeake Bay. Now, Virginia is poised to ban phosphates from all home dishwasher detergents, a move environmental groups say will reduce one of the major contaminants dumped in the bay each year.

Va. to Start Ban on Phosphates in 2010
Measure on Dishwasher Detergent Would Reduce Big Pollutant

By Sandhya Somashekhar
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 11, 2008; B03

Dishwasher detergent may make your stemware sparkle, but the phosphates contained in most brands are among the most damaging pollutants in the Chesapeake Bay.

Now, Virginia is poised to ban phosphates from all home dishwasher detergents, a move environmental groups say will reduce one of the major contaminants dumped in the bay each year.

"The reduction of phosphates is one of the key efforts in trying to clean up the Chesapeake Bay," said Del. John A. Cosgrove (R-Chesapeake), a co-sponsor of the legislation, which the General Assembly approved this year. "Every time we put in new and better technology that further reduces [nutrient pollution], we take a step closer to that goal."

Virginia joins Maryland and several other states that have agreed to delay the ban until 2010 at the request of detergent companies. The delay is necessary so companies can develop alternatives to phosphates, which improve the cleaning ability of dish soaps, said Brian Sansoni, a spokesman for the Soap and Detergent Association.

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