Washington, D.C., may join Maryland in passing a virtual ban on the sale of dishwasher detergents that contain a popular additive that is harmful to the Chesapeake
Bay.
The District is considering several steps to improve water quality in area rivers and waterways, including the ban.
Maryland was the second state in the country to pass the ban.
Under a bill introduced last week by D.C. Councilwoman Mary Cheh, most if not all brand-name dishwasher detergents on supermarket shelves would have to come off, from Cascade to Palmolive. The products contain phosphates that are slowly choking the life out of the Bay and its tributaries, Cheh said.
“We?ve all read stories about the fish in the rivers, the lesions that they have,” Cheh said. “It often reminds me of ?The Simpsons? episode when they have a fish that has two heads. We want to not go down that path.”
A 20-year-old D.C. law bans the sale of most phosphate-containing household cleaners, with the exception of dishwasher detergents. Cheh?s legislation, backed by nine of her colleagues, would limit the amount of phosphorous in those products to 0.5 percent by weight ? less than what is found in most of today?s popular brands.
In the last legislative session, Maryland lawmakers passed a bill that would ban the harmful dishwasher detergents. The law takes effect in January 2010. Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler, who advocated for the bill, said in December that 10 to 30 percent of the phosphate that gets into the Bay comes from dishwasher detergent.
Phosphates are believed to enhance the cleaning ability of detergents. But once released into the Bay, phosphorous becomes one of two primary pollutants driving poor water quality, fish kills and dead zones, said Jenn Aiosa, a Maryland senior scientist with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
Major manufacturers are taking notice, including Colgate-Palmolive, which will introduce an eco-friendly, phosphate-free Palmolive in April.
“It is the first phosphate-free automatic dishwasher detergent available to the mass market in the U.S.,” Tom Paolella, a spokesman for the company, said in a statement.
“It?s a matter of the existing household name-brand products being at a disadvantage,” Aiosa said. “Whether or not they?ll reformulate, I?m not sure.”
Examiner Staff Writer Luke Broadwater contributed to this report.
