Sodium triphosphate (due to hydrolysis), no studies have been carried out to date concerning the chronic effects of STPP on these aquatic organisms. Predicted no-effect concentrations were therefore calculated for the aquatic environment and sediments on the basis of the acute aquatic ecotoxicity results. Detergents containing phosphorus contribute, together with other sources of phosphorus, to the eutrophication of many fresh waters. Eutrophication is an increase in chemical nutrients—typically compounds containing nitrogen or phosphorus—in an ecosystem. It may occur on land or in water. The term is, however, often used to mean the resultant increase in the ecosystem's primary productivity (excessive plant growth
Marine pollution is a primary cause of eutrophication of surface waters, in which excess nutrients, usually nitrates or phosphates, stimulate algae growth. Many potentially toxic chemicals adhere to tiny particles which are then taken up by plankton and benthic animals, most of which are either deposit feeders or filter feeders. In this way, the toxins are concentrated upward within ocean food chains. Many particles combine chemically in a manner highly depletive of oxygen, causing estuaries to become anoxic. When pesticides are incorporated into the marine ecosystem, they quickly become absorbed into marine food webs. Once in the food webs, these pesticides can