ABSTRACT
The use of polycarboxylates in detergents only began to play a major role in the early 1980s. Despite the relatively short application period, there are already a number of publications and reviews on environmental data for polycarboxylates [1-5]. Publications suggesting that the environmental behavior of polycarboxy lates has not been sufficiently studied [6,7] can be refuted today in many points [2,3,8]. Extensive studies were recently carried out by manufacturers and users documenting the environmental behavior of polycarboxylates.
