Using Sludge

The Ready Test helps P&G scientists to understand if a material may degrade during wastewater treatment and in the environment. However, this test uses very high concentrations of test compound, which are very often not realistic. To better understand the potential for biodegradation, The more sophisticated Porous Pot Test is frequently used.

In this test, activated sludge from a wastewater treatment plant is brought into the laboratory and exposed to the ingredient for months at a time. The long duration of testing allows acclimation of the microorganisms to occur.

P&G typically uses a radio labeled test compound that allows scientists to use very low concentrations of ingredients from P&G products and get a good understanding whether the compound will degrade during wastewater treatment and in the environment. Since the porous pots are laboratory scale models of wastewater treatment plants, they provide excellent data on whether a compound will biodegrade and exactly how fast that will occur. Further, scientists can measure sorption and learn how much of the ingredient will end up on sludge (and eventually on farmers' fields).