Surface-active compounds are an integral part of washing agents (powders) and are designed to used in water. One of the hazardous chemical classes for environment and human health are persistent organic pollutants (POPs).Substantial amounts of pyrene are solubilized through the use of household soaps and washing powders (the pyrene concentration varies from 4.6 -180 times). Surface-active compounds (SAC) are very active even in the low concentration range of 0.005 - 1%. Therefore, from a scientific viewpoint, the listed range of their concentration in washing agents is so broad (e.g. <5%; -15%; -30%) that meaningful results based on the concentration of these SAC cannot be obtained in laboratory experiments. Particular attention needs to be paid to the development of national policies for the control of surface-active chemicals in polluted washing waters and wastewaters. The first step would be an initiative to ensure that Latvian regulations and legislation are backed up with effective control systems for not only for “surface-active substances” as a whole, but also specifically for nonionic and cationic substances.