As of July 1, Maryland stores are no longer supposed be selling dishwasher detergent containing phosphorus. The ban was enacted three years ago to help clean up the Chesapeake Bay, with the effective date delayed until this month to give detergent manufacturers time to reformulate their products.
But an enterprising Annapolis reporter found more than a week after the ban took effect that half the 10 stores she checked in the capital area still had some of the banned soap on their shelves. Finish (formerly Electra-Sol) Powerballs containing phosphorus were found at Giant, Safeway and Shoppers stores there, and one Safeway had old Cascade products containing phosphorus.
Hats off to Pamela Wood of the Annapolis Capital for watchdogging this.
Store managers contacted were quoted saying they'd promptly remove the banned items. Businesses could be fined up to $1,000 for selling, distributing or making a detergent containing phosphorus. There's also apparently a fine of up to $100 for using the wrong detergent, though the Maryland Department of the Environment isn't about to demand to check what's under your sink.
The fine on use is perhaps meant to dissuade residents from going out of state to buy phosphorus-containing detergents, as occurred initially in Spokane, WA after a similar ban took effect there. That'll be harder here, as according to this report, 16 states just banned phosphate-laced detergents, including neighboring Pennsylvania and Virginia.
Is your store P-free now? Let us know if you find banned products on your neighborhood store shelves. It may not be that easy to tell, though, as there's no standard labeling requirement. Some brands boast "phosphate free" prominently on the label, while with others you may have to read the ingredients fine print, and even then it may not be conclusive.
By itself, the phosphorus dish detergent ban represents no more than a tiny step toward a cleaner bay. Sewage treatment plants, farm animal manure and even pet waste are all likely larger sources of the nutrient that, along with nitrogen, creates the dead zone that forms ever summer in the middle of the Chesapeake. But it's an important symbolic step nonetheless, coming decades after the state banned phosphate-laced laundry detergent and shortly after it moved to curb phosphorus in lawn fertilizer.
Unfortunately, Consumer Reports says that phosphorus-containing dish detergents are tops at cleaning dishes. But its latest round of testing has found several brands with little or no phosphates that also do a pretty good job, notably Cascade, Ecover, Method and Simplicity.
What's your experience with P-free dish soap or dishwasher detergent? Do your glasses and plates get as clean as before? Any products (or techniques) seem to work better for you than others?