GOVERNMENT
Voluntary Agreement to End ABS Pollution Urged Industry says agreement to use new "soft" detergents obviates need for control law There may be no need for H.R. 4571, a bill to outlaw nonbiodegradable detergents after June 30, 1965. Detergent makers have agreed voluntarily to switch production to biodegradable, so-called "soft," detergents by the end of 1965. The agreement could eliminate the need for legislation to control water pollution caused by detergents now in use. These detergents are formulated with an ABS (alkylbenzene sulfonate) base. They resist degradation by bacteria in normal sewage treatment processes. "Voluntary action by detergent manufacturers will solve this problem of more readily degradable detergents, " David C. Melnicoff, president of the Soap and Detergent Association, told the House Subcommittee on Natural Resources at hearings on water pollution. However, he warns, restrictive control legislation could obstruct industry's efforts. The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare also favors the voluntary agreement approach to solving detergent pollution problems. In a report to Rep. Henry S. Reuss (D.Wis.), sponsor of H.R. 4571, H E W Secretary Anthony J. Celebrezze says, "Industry has set the end of the year 1965 for the production of [biodegradable] detergents. This deadline is within six months of the target date of the bill. We recommend that final legislative action on the bill be deferred to provide an opportunity for voluntary solution of this problem." Even Rep. Reuss is not fully committed to the legislative approach. 36
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2 4,
1963
He says, "If an agreement to eliminate detergent pollution can be obtained without legislation, I am all for it." However, he fears that it may be difficult, if not impossible, to draw up an agreement that would eliminate pollution by "hard" detergents. Loopholes. Rep. Reuss questions whether it is possible to make an agreement that will eliminate the manufacture or marketing of hard detergents by all companies. Three detergent manufacturers—Procter & Gamble, Lever Brothers, and ColgatePalmolive—sold 759c of the 560 million pounds of ABS-based detergents used in 1962. This still leaves 140 million pounds that was disposed of by other companies, Rep. Reuss points out. A decision by one or more large users to abandon the use of ABS could cause it to decline in price, Rep. Reuss says. This could encourage the continued or even expanded use of ABS by companies that did not take part in the agreement. Responsible companies could be put at a disadvantage by their irresponsible competitors, he says. Imports pose another problem. Foreign producers would be unaffected by any agreement drawn up by American producers, Rep. Reuss says. "How would it be possible to prevent a large importation of hard detergents, especially if there were a price differential between hard detergents and the new degradable detergents being offered by American companies?" he asks. Rep. Reuss also wonders whether states and localities will consider a voluntary agreement by the detergent industry sufficiently strong to solve their pollution problems. If they don't, they could impose their own regulations; some have done so already, he says. In his opinion, a patchwork of state and local ordinances would impede interstate commerce and hurt the economy by "Balkanizing" the detergent market. Rep. Reuss challenges industry to begin immediate negotiations with
Rep. Henry S. Reuss Fears it would be impossible to end pollution by agreement
H E W to work out "a timely and effective agreement." Time is of the essence, Rep. Reuss says. The reason is that the Rivers and Harbors Subcommittee of the House Committee on Public Works plans to hold hearings on H.R. 4571 early in August. (The Natural Resources Subcommittee has no jurisdiction over this bill, is merely investigating water pollution.) He urges representatives of H E W and industry to be ready at that time to present a draft agreement to end detergent pollution, with answers to the questions he has raised. In Rep. Ruess' opinion, the interval between hearings should provide ample time to work out a voluntary agreement, if one is possible. If it is not possible, he expects H E W to back legislation similar to H.R. 4571. Industry Views. Detergent makers oppose the enactment of rigid control laws, Mr. Melnicoff told the committee. There are many technical problems involved in developing new biodegradable materials and tooling up to provide new products in commercial quantities, he says. "Clearly, changes of such vast magnitude cannot be made overnight, nor can any new law or regulation solve the problem in any miraculous way," he adds. The demand for legislation has originated in good faith on the part of those who have a deep concern for America's future water resources, he says. However, such legislation would interfere with the orderly formulation of standards of performance and chemical composition by predetermin-
David C. Melnicoff Voluntary action can solve the problem, SDA head says
ing the dimensions of the problem. Indeed, he says, premature enactment of such legislation could delay the development of the best biodegradable detergents by setting rigid regulatory procedures and rules. "This is a situation which calls for
great flexibility and creativeness," he says. The Soap and Detergent Association believes that voluntary action by detergent manufacturers will solve the problem of more readily degradable detergents, Mr. Melnicoff says. A special research committee is developing a standard test for biodegradability. Based on present research knowledge, detergent producers expect to be able to apply the standard in new formulations in time to begin producing the more degradable products by the end of 1965. "We believe our industry can meet this timetable even though tremendous technical difficulties must be resolved," he says. Mr. Melnicoff points out that the problem of detergent pollution is not one which creates health hazards. Instead, it is a nuisance, largely esthetic in nature. Industry recognizes the importance of solving the problem promptly, he says. "As a matter of corporate and industrial self-interest as well as good responsible citizenship, we are hard at work improving our products so that both the users of the products and those
"Soft" ABS Detergents Are Much More Biodegradable Than u Hard" ABS remaining (per cent)
RIVER WATER TEST Initial bacteria count 8600/ml. Initial ABS concentration 7 p.p.m.
"hard" ABS
;'soft" ABS , linear alkylate sulfonate Days of Bacterial Action
Source: Monsanto
concerned with water resources will both be well served," he adds. Outlook. There is no doubt that industry will produce a biodegradable surfactant and there will be a major shift in this direction in 1965, Henry V. Moss of Monsanto told the committee. A number of companies have announced plans to produce a biodegradable detergent base (C&EN, June 17, page 25). Mr. Moss believes that many more raw material suppliers are about to enter the field. ABS detergents are not completely resistant to bacterial attack. Under certain conditions, more than 50% of the initial concentration of a hard detergent can be degraded by biological action. Finding a soft detergent base that combines good biodegradability with good detergency was a difficult task, Mr. Moss says. In the detergent structure, maximum linearity in the hydrocarbon chain gives optimum degradability, but a branched-chain hydrocarbon gives superior detergent performance. As a result, soft detergents now being tested are a compromise. They are much more degradable than ABS detergents but not quite as degradable as linear alkylate sulfonates. According to Mr. Moss, Monsanto has progressed from producing small laboratory samples to the production of tank-car lots of promising types of materials. These are being used for large-scale tests by producers of finished detergents, he says. Requirements of detergent producers differ, he points out. Mr. Moss believes that suppliers will be faced with producing a variety of biodegradable materials, not just a single product. Much more testing on a larger scale needs to be done, he believes, to make sure that the proposed soft detergents can be processed to make satisfactory cleaning products that still possess the desired biodegradability. John P. Moser of Lever Brothers told the committee that if a satisfactory soft detergent base were available from suppliers in production quantities by August of next year, the December 1965 deadline could be met. Dr. Richard B. Wearn of Colgate-Palmolive told the committee that his company is in the final stages of testing a very promising type of detergent. Procter & Gamble vice president John W. Hanley, in a letter to the committee chairman, said that P&G expects to beat the December 1965 deadline by several months. JUNE
24, 1963
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