Earthcare® - No Phosphates
What are phosphates?
Phosphates are used in cleaning products like dishwashing and laundry detergents to increase their efficiency. The phosphate anions present in these detergents bind with the magnesium and calcium ions and precipitate them out with the grey water, making the cleaning process easier.
Phosphorus is essential to all living things and is great for plant growth. It is a building block for bones and teeth in animals and most importantly, is part of the energy molecule known as Adenosine Triphosphate or ATP produced by all living organisms to survive and grow.
So what is the problem?
All the phosphate used in detergent enters the wastewater systems and remains in treated water which is released into the natural water bodies like rivers and lakes.
Now let’s discuss the phenomenon of eutrophication – this is the increase in the nutrient content of a waterbody as it ages. Phosphates, being an essential nutrient, support the growth of algae and other aquatic life. While this may seem like a good thing, excess phosphorus in the water bodies can cause unexpected problems.
High amount of phosphates in the water promotes explosive growth of algae and other plants. This causes an unsustainable demand on the dissolved oxygen in the water, suffocating other living things in the ecosystem and obstructing the flow of water.
This not only stagnates the water and destroys the biodiversity in waterbodies, it can also cause hindrances to water transport, fishing, and increase water-borne diseases.
Eutrophication - effect of excess phosphate in water bodies
What can we do about it?
None of the products in Dominant’s Earthcare® range contain phosphates. Instead, our chemists replace phosphates with naturally occurring minerals such as carbonates and silicates to achieve efficient cleaning.
Our Earthcare® dishwashing and laundry detergents ensure superior cleaning without compromising on environmental sustainability.