Madison banned the use of lawn fertilizers containing phosphorus in January of 2005 with Dane County Ordinance 80. The only exemptions are phosphorus-poor established lawns, and newly established lawns. The reason for the banning is because phosphorus-rich runoff water from lawns and golf courses would wash into the Madison lakes after a strong rainfall and causes a process called eutrophication: a massive introduction of chemical nutrients. Eutrophication can cause a rapid increase in algae, also called an algae bloom, and when the algae from these blooms die and decay they pull the oxygen out of the water and can suffocate the aquatic life.
On July 1 2009, the Wisconsin State Assembly referred a bill to ban phosphorus from dishwasher soap to the Senate’s Committee on Environment with the same reasoning behind the fertilizer ban almost four years ago. Several other states will enact laws banning phosphorus soaps by July 1, 2010. The Soap and Detergent Association, a trade organization that represents North American manufacturers of cleaning products, stated that they would be phosphorus free by that deadline.
So all is well. No more manufactured phosphorus polluting our environment. How about our food?
Phosphorus is an essential element to our diet by helping cells store and use energy. It can be found in natural foods and has also been used for centuries in age-old traditions such as cheese and sausage making, but the levels of phosphorus are well below the danger mark.
Phosphorus now being used in products to lengthen shelf life, maintain or enhance color, and even for flavoring. I found a helpful link that lists several products and reasons why phosphorus is used: www.foodadditives.org/phosphates/phosphates_used_in_food.html.
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In a published article of the American Journal of Circulatory and Critical Care Medicine South Korean researchers have found in increase in lung cancer with mice placed on a high phosphorus diet, found mostly in processed and fast foods. You can find an article on that study at: www.medscape.com/viewarticle/586013. Another study from The Journal of the American Medical Association stated that a high phosphate diet could have consequences on patients with end-stage renal disease (kidney failure) and for the general public.
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