# Regulation (EC) No 648/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on detergents (Text with EEA relevance), Division 5.1.1

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

The treatment of non-ionic surface-active agents and formulated detergents prior to the determination of primary biodegradability in the confirmatory test is:
The purpose of the alcoholic extraction is to eliminate the insoluble and inorganic ingredients of the commercial product, which in some circumstances might upset the biodegradability test.
Products
Treatment
Non-ionic surfactants
None
Formulated detergents
Alcoholic extraction followed by separation of the non-ionic surfactants by ion exchange
Ion-exchange procedure

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2004/648/annex/VIII/division/5/division/5.1/division/5.1.1 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/eu-regulation-2004-648/annex-VIII/division-5/division-5.1/division-5.1.1
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.