BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union will virtually ban phosphates in dishwasher and laundry soap to curb the pollution of rivers, lakes and seas by algae from 2013, EU lawmakers decided on Wednesday.
Phosphates help soften calcium-rich hard water but they can lead to blooms of algae, which starve fish of oxygen. The compound has had a particularly serious effect on parts of the Danube river and Baltic Sea, environmentalists say.
