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Sodium triphosphate

Not to be confused with Trisodium phosphate.

Sodium triphosphate (STP), also sodium tripolyphos-


O
phate (STPP), or tripolyphosphate (TPP),[1] ) is an

P
inorganic compound with formula Na5 P3 O10 . It is the
sodium salt of the polyphosphate penta-anion, which is
the conjugate base of triphosphoric acid. It is produced
on a large scale as a component of many domestic and
O O
industrial products, especially detergents. Environmental
problems associated with eutrophication are attributed to
O
its widespread use.
- O2P PO-2
1 Preparation and properties
O M O
Sodium tripolyphosphate is produced by heating a stoi-
chiometric mixture of disodium phosphate, Na2 HPO4 ,
and monosodium phosphate, NaH2 PO4 , under carefully Chelation of a metal cation by triphosphate.
controlled conditions.[2]

2.2 Food applications


2 Na2 HPO4 + NaH2 PO4 Na5 P3 O10 + 2
H2 O STPP is a preservative for seafood, meats, poultry, and
animal feeds.[5] It is common in food production as E
number E451. In foods, STPP is used as an emulsier
In this way, approximately 2 million tons are produced and to retain moisture. Many governments regulate the
annually. quantities allowed in foods, as it can substantially increase
STPP is a colourless salt, which exists both in anhydrous the sale weight of seafood in particular. The United States
form and as the hexahydrate. The anion can be described Food and Drug Administration lists STPP as "generally
as the pentanionic chain [O3 POP(O)2 OPO3 ]5 .[3][4] recognized as safe.
Many related di-, tri-, and polyphosphates are known
including the cyclic triphosphate P3 O9 3 . It binds
strongly to metal cations as both a bidentate and tridentate 2.3 Other uses
chelating agent.
Other uses (hundreds of thousands of tons/year) include
ceramics (decrease the viscosity of glazes up to a certain
limit), leather tanning (as masking agent and synthetic
2 Uses tanning agent - SYNTAN), anticaking, setting retarders,
ame retardants, paper, anticorrosion pigments, textiles,
rubber manufacture, fermentation, antifreeze.[5] TPP is
2.1 In detergents used as a polyanion crosslinker in polysaccharide based
drug delivery.[6]
The majority of STPP is consumed as a component of
commercial detergents. It serves as a builder, industrial
jargon for a water softener. In hard water (water that con-
tains high concentrations of Mg2+ and Ca2+ ), detergents 3 Health eects
are deactivated. Being a highly charged chelating agent,
TPP5 binds to dications tightly and prevents them from Polyphosphates are hydrolyzed into simpler phosphates,
interfering with the sulfonate detergent.[5] which in moderate amounts are nutritious. For exam-

1
2 6 REFERENCES

ple, ATP, a related derivative of triphosphate, is es-


sential for life. Thus, the toxicity of polyphosphates
is low, as the lowest LD50 after oral administration is
>1,000 mg/kg body weight.[1] Similarly, no mutagenic,
carcinogenic, or reproductive eects have been noted.[1]
Salts of polyphosphate anions are moderately irritating
to skin and mucous membranes because they are mildly
alkaline.[1]

4 Environmental eects
In 2000, the worldwide consumption of STPP was esti-
mated to be approximately 2,000,000 tonnes.[5] Because
it is very water-soluble, it is not signicantly transferred
to sewage sludge, and therefore to soil by sludge spread-
ing. No environmental risk related to STPP use in de-
tergents is indicated in soil or air. As an ingredient of
household cleaning products, STPP present in domestic
waste waters is mainly discharged to the aquatic compart-
ment, directly, via waste water treatment plants, via septic
tanks, inltration or other autonomous waste water sys-
tems.
As STPP is an inorganic substance, biodegradation stud- The eutrophication of the Potomac River, caused from phosphate
ies are not applicable. However, STPP can be hydrol- run-o, is evident from the bright green bloom of algae.
ysed, nally to orthophosphate, which can be assimilated
by algae and/or by micro-organisms. STPP thus ends up
being assimilated into the natural phosphorus cycle. Re- trogen or phosphorusin an ecosystem. It may occur
liable published studies conrm biochemical understand- on land or in water. The term is, however, often used
ing, showing that STPP is progressively hydrolysed by to mean the resultant increase in the ecosystems primary
biochemical activity in contact with waste waters (in sew- productivity (excessive plant growth and decay), and fur-
erage pipes and within sewage works) and also in the nat- ther eects including lack of oxygen and severe reduc-
ural aquatic environment. This information enabled the tions in water quality and sh and other animal popula-
calculation of worst case predicted environmental con- tions.
centrations using the EUSES model and the HERA de- Phosphorus can theoretically generate its weight 500
tergent scenario. A default regional release of 10% was times in algae. [7] Whereas the primary production in
applied instead of the 7% regional release indicated in marine waters is mainly nitrogen-limited, fresh waters are
the HERA detergent scenario. Reliable acute aquatic considered to be phosphorus-limited. A large part of the
ecotoxicity studies are available which show that STPP sewage euents in many countries is released untreated
is not toxic to aquatic organisms: all EC/LC50 values into freshwater recipients, and here the use of phosphorus
are above 100 mg/l (Daphnia, sh, algae). Because of as complexing agents is still an environmental concern.[1]
this, and because of the only temporary presence of STPP
in the aquatic environment (due to hydrolysis), no stud-
ies have been carried out to date concerning the chronic 5 See also
eects of STPP on these aquatic organisms. Predicted
no-eect concentrations were therefore calculated for the
Acceptable daily intake
aquatic environment and sediments on the basis of the
acute aquatic ecotoxicity results.

6 References
4.1 Eects of wastewater containing phos-
phorus [1] Complexing agents, Environmental and Health Assess-
ment of Substances in Household Detergents and Cos-
metic Detergent Products, Danish Environmental Protec-
Detergents containing phosphorus contribute, together
tion Agency, Accessed 2008-07-15
with other sources of phosphorus, to the eutrophication
of many fresh waters.[1] Eutrophication is an increase in [2] Greenwood, Norman N.; Earnshaw, Alan (1997). Chem-
chemical nutrientstypically compounds containing ni- istry of the Elements (2nd ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann.
3

ISBN 0-08-037941-9.

[3] Corbridge, D. E. C. (1960). The crystal structure of


sodium triphosphate, Na5P3O10, phase I. Acta Crystal-
lographica. 13: 263. doi:10.1107/S0365110X60000583.

[4] Davies, D. R.; Corbridge, D. E. C. (1958). The crys-


tal structure of sodium triphosphate, Na5P3O10,
phase II. Acta Crystallographica. 11: 315.
doi:10.1107/S0365110X58000876.

[5] Klaus Schrdter, Gerhard Bettermann, Thomas Stael,


Friedrich Wahl, Thomas Klein, Thomas Hofmann Phos-
phoric Acid and Phosphates in Ullmanns Encyclopedia
of Industrial Chemistry 2008, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim.
doi:10.1002/14356007.a19_465.pub3

[6] P. Calvo, C. RemunanLopez, J.L. VilaJato, M.J. Alonso,


Novel hydrophilic chitosanpolyethylene oxide nanoparti-
cles as protein carriers, J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 63 (1997)
125132

[7] (Wetzel 1983).


4 7 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

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