The economic impact of a household product: the use of nitrilotriacetic acid

Purchase,¹ in her review of laundry practices, concluded that there was significant increased cost due to the banning of phosphate detergents. The cost calculation was, in all likelihood, significantly inflated. A review of her methodology and assumptions, and those of related studies, provides significant adjustments to her conclusions. This issue is important to home economists and environmentalists. The recalculation demonstrates that these interests are less in conflict than Purchase's data would indicate.