ABSTRACT
Laundry detergents, cleaning agents, and personal-care products are by far the largest class of technical products for domestic use. After use, they are mainly discharged into municipal wastewaters which enter sewage treatment plants. The different ingredients of a detergent formulation are eliminated there by biodegradation or adsorption, but small amounts of these substances reach the aquatic environment via the effluent of sewage treatment plants. The dramatic increase in the production of detergents during the second part of the last century has an enormous impact on the environment. In order to evaluate the ecological risks of the different components of detergent formulations, their levels in the different environmental compartments have to be determined. The analytical methods for the determination of surfactants, chelating agents, phosphates, and boron as the main risk factors in environmental matrices have been continuously improved with regard to reproducibility, selectivity, and sensitivity over the last few years. This paper describes the broad spectrum of different analytical methods for these analytes beginning with correct sampling, followed by matrixspecific enrichment procedures, and, finally, the determination by colorimetric, spectroscopic, electrochemical, or chromatographic methods.
