Main Committee on Detergents (HAD)

In the exceptionally hot and dry summer of 1959, mountains of foam appeared on rivers and canals, particularly at weirs and locks, even hindering shipping. The German Federal Government subsequently established the Main Committee “Detergents and Water” (HAD), comprising representatives of the water management sector, the detergent raw materials and detergent industries, experts from public authorities and scientists. The task of this committee was to investigate the cause of the foam nuisance and develop measures to prevent it. Committees with the same remit were formed in the USA and England. The biologically inadequately degradable tetrapropylbenzene sulphonate (TPS), which had increasingly replaced soap in washing and cleaning products since around 1950, was soon identified as the cause of the foam problems. The German Federal Government subsequently enacted the “Law on Detergents in Washing and Cleaning Products”, which came into force in September 1961. This law was the world’s first environmental protection law.

The HAD developed methods for testing biological degradability in a screening test and a continuous test. The latter simulated the state of the art in municipal wastewater treatment plants at the time. An analytical method was also developed to quantitatively determine anionic surfactants in wastewater treatment plants, surface waters and degradation tests. These methods were made legally binding in the statutory instrument relating to the “Detergents Act”, which came into force in 1964. In addition, a minimum primary biological degradability of 80 per cent was required for anionic surfactants used in washing and cleaning products. In parallel with these statutory regulations, the detergent raw materials industry succeeded in replacing TPS with linear alkylbenzene sulphonate (LAS). As a result, the concentrations of anionic surfactants in surface waters fell drastically. Foam nuisances became a thing of the past.

The HAD subsequently played a key role in advancing the development of further and more refined surfactant analysis methods. The wastewater treatment plant simulation test was adapted to the respective state of wastewater treatment technology in order to ensure that real conditions were simulated. Coupling the simulation model with continuous ecotoxicity tests makes it possible to predict the effects of surfactant degradation products on organisms in running waters. A running-water simulation model developed by the HAD failed to gain acceptance for non-scientific reasons.

In 1988, the HAD published the two-part report “Ecologically Relevant Data on Surfactants in Washing and Cleaning Products”, which attracted considerable attention beyond Germany’s borders.

The HAD played a key role in comprehensive LAS monitoring at German wastewater treatment plants and in running waters (1993–1995). The results were presented in 1997 at a HAD symposium in Frankfurt a.M. and made a decisive contribution to the German Environment Agency’s (UBA) statement that “LAS poses no danger to aquatic organisms after passing through biological wastewater treatment plants”.

In November 2005, a widely acclaimed colloquium on fragrances was organised jointly with Sepawa and the “Forum Washing for the Future”.

The so-called HAD List was developed as an important tool for assessing the environmental properties of laundry detergents, dishwashing products and cleaning products, given the high proportion of households connected to wastewater treatment plants in Germany (> 90 per cent). It enables different formulations to be assessed comparatively and suitable development directions to be identified.The Main Committee “Detergents and Water” remained in existence as an advisory body to the German Federal Government until the UBA was founded in 1974. It subsequently held the status of a scientific body. In 1993, the HAD was integrated as such into the “Detergent Chemistry” Division (now: “detergent chemistry” Division) of the German Chemical Society (GDCh). As a body of this Division, the HAD performs a scientific advisory function for people working in its field. The HAD’s fields of activity and tasks were redefined in 2016.

The HAD’s equal representation has always been maintained. However, members of the water management sector are no longer represented, owing to the positive changes in the situation in water bodies and the HAD’s changed responsibilities.

HAD working basis

When assessing the environmental aspects of laundry detergents and cleaning products, it is taken into account that, after use, the ingredients enter the aquatic environment and may affect aquatic ecosystems there according to their toxicity. The DID and HAD lists include ingredients together with their corresponding data on aquatic toxicity (LTE = Long Term Effect) and biodegradability or elimination in the sewage treatment plant (LF = Loading Factor).
The DID list is published by the European Commission. In the 2014 revision, the system was changed compared with the previous version and new substances were included. The new DID List 2014 must be used for all applications to obtain the environmental label.
As with all DID lists published to date, the derivation rules for assessing the individual laundry detergent and cleaning product ingredients with regard to their elimination during wastewater treatment and their aquatic toxicity are based on criteria that do not reflect wastewater treatment conditions in Germany. For this reason, in the past a working group of the Detergents Main Committee (HAD) of the GDCh-FG “detergent chemistry” adapted the derivation rules so that the data assigned to the individual detergent ingredients in the list correspond to wastewater treatment conditions in Germany. Following publication of the new DID List 2014, the Detergents Main Committee decided at its meeting on 27 November 2014 to adapt the HAD List once again to the DID List with regard to the substances contained in that list.
The selection of individual substances listed in DID List 2014 and the numbering amended compared with the previous version of the list were adopted for the HAD List. LTE and LF values for substances newly included in DID List 2014 were derived in accordance with the HAD derivation rules and entered in the HAD List. On the basis of more recent and generally available data (e.g. from REACH reports), LTE and LF values for substances already included in the HAD List are updated. The inherent substance properties are also the same in both lists. Only the assessment and/or the safety factors differ. The HAD List takes into account that the properties change after entering the wastewater (e.g. NaOH “loses” its hazardous activity due to the high dilution in the wastewater).

Guest: Sabine Sur, German Environment Agency