Detergents contain phosphates and have been associated with eutrophication problems. Although numerous laws and voluntary agreements exist, which either ban or restrict the use of detergent phosphate. In India hundreds of thousands of ton detergent used annually with a retail value of billions of rupees. At present, there are no rigid guidelines in India about the percentage of various constituents in a detergent formulation from the point of view of environment. An effort was made in the present investigation to characterize phosphate level in the solutions prepared by dissolving in water of 55 detergents available in North Indian market in the form of cakes, powders and liquids. Based on the analytical results their likely effects on environment were discussed. Ten percent solution of only a few detergents were found to have pH > prescribed limit of 11. Sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) which used as a builder was found to range from 1.8% to 31.9%, a variation of above 15 fold. Higher concentration of STPP in detergent is associated with eutrophication of natural water bodies. In general, most widely used and high price range detergents were found to contain higher amount of STPP (>25%). Almost all the detergents analyzed had STPP > prescribed limit of 2.2% by weight.
