Cleaners
were often regarded as not very dangerous because of their biodegradable reputation and
thus not posing any problem. And yet, one
noted the disappearance of many algae of bay of Marseilles of which Phaeophycée Cystoseira stricta, about the years 1960. It must
certainly with the replacement of the traditional house hold soap by anion detergents of
the group of the akylbenzenes sulphonates (ABS). It appears that the disappearance of the
herbarium of Posidonies on the western surface of Tombolo de Giens (bay of Hyères) does
not have an other causes.

One has also used detergents at the time of theshipwreck
of the tanker " Torrey Canyon " to wash the coasts soiled by oil. It was
shown the reafter that the settlements which had bathed only in oil had been less faded
than those which had bathed in a mixture of oil and detergent. It was all the same drawn a
lesson from this disastrous experiment, and at the time of the other oil slicks one
avoided the use of the detergents.