ABSTRACT
Attempting to write a chapter on builders and their functions is no easy task. Not without considerable hesitation and apprehension have we agreed to undertake this adventure.
There are several reasons that this project is tricky, the first one being simply the difficulty of defining exactly what the world of detergency means by the term "builder" or more recently "builder system.'' Already, this first nuance gives a glimpse of the complexity of the problem. The notion of a builder system was born and amplified with the search for alternatives to sodium tripolyphosphate, a versatile builder that is an absolute whiz in its category, but, unfortunately, is responsible for eutrophication (excessive profileration of algae through fertilization) of the natural water supply. Attempts to find an equally efficient substitute have proved to be very difficult and have led the formulators to develop ever more sophisticated associations of products, from which the obvious notion of builder systems arises.
