Green Chemistry and Design NPE in Detergents Project

The intent of this project is to demonstrate the extent to which state outreach and support can stimulate green chemistry and design projects in the private sector.

This webpage will serve as a clearinghouse for updates on the implementation of this project and for other information supporting or generated by this project.

Notices

Findings to support project activities will be posted as they become available.

Background

In Minnesota, nonylphenol ethoxylate (NPE) is listed by the Minnesota Department of Health as a Chemical of High Concern.

MPCA recognizes that NPE has been used in virtually all indoor and outdoor settings and that its persistence leads to its long-term presence in river and lake sediments and in water treatment residues generated, land-applied or incinerated.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) focused on industrial detergent use as the most nationally-significant remaining use of NPE and EPA’s Design for the Environment (DfE) staff are working with companies to implement voluntary phase-out and substitution of NPE-containing liquid detergents in 2013 and powder detergents in 2014, under DfE’s Safer Detergents Stewardship Initiative.

Previous work has eliminated NPE in household detergents.  NPE continues to be used as a surfactant in other products such as paint and pesticides, but those uses are understood by EPA to be lower-level and more difficult to address because of the number of manufacturers and distributors of those types of products.

In contrast, large-scale laundries in Minnesota would be fewer and easier to contact.  The MPCA project therefore leveraged the DfE work with industrial and commercial laundries. The MPCA approached the project by conducting outreach to businesses like uniform cleaning services and commercial entities like hospitals which are likely to operate large-scale laundering.  The outreach helped determine the extent of remaining uses of NPE in detergents at large-scale laundries.

MPCA found during its outreach that large-scale laundries do not continue to use NPE-containing detergents in applications in which safer substitutes have been demonstrated. A summary of these findings will be posted on this web page.

For more information

MPCA contact: Phyllis Strong, 651-757-2763