Monitoring the Ohio River for Synthetic‐Detergent Content

Abstract

The average concentration of surface‐ active agents in the Ohio River at Cincinnati, based on weekly analyses with the methylene blue procedure over a 5‐year period, has been 0.16 ppm, measured as “apparent ABS.” (ABS is the abbreviation for alkyl benzene sulfonate, the principal surfactant in household synthetic detergents.) This is a small concentration, particularly when compared with the 1‐ppm concentration reported as the approximate value at which light frothing may first appear. During this period there was no increase or build‐up of the apparent ABS content, and no water treatment problems that might be associated with detergents were reported. These results are based on a monitoring program started by Procter & Gamble Co., Cincinnati, Ohio, early in 1954. The program was established as a part of the work of the Detergent Subcommittee of the Chemical Industry Committee, advisory to the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (Orsanco). This subcommittee was formed at the suggestion of Edward J. Cleary, executive director and chief engineer of Orsanco, to aid in the appraisal of questions concerning the possible effects of synthetic detergents in water and sewage. Probably the most significant of the various steps taken by the Detergent Subcommittee was that of enlisting the support of the Association of American Soap & Glycerine Producers, New York, N.Y., in a major research effort directed toward answering the questions about the effects of synthetic detergents. The association's research has been reported at its 1956‐1959 annual conventions by Coughlin and Moss. The monitoring program on the Ohio River, however, is not so well known. This article discusses that program and its results.