ECOLAB INC. — Director's Dealing 2007

Dec 8, 2007

SEC Form 4 — Statement of Changes in Beneficial Ownership

Issuer: ECOLAB INC (ECL)
CIK: 0000031462
Period of Report: 2007-12-05

Reporting Person: BAKER DOUGLAS M JR (Director, Chairman, President & CEO)

Derivative Transactions

Date	Security	Exercise Price	Code	Shares	A/D	Expiration	Underlying	Ownership
2007-12-05	Employee Stock Option (Right to Buy)	$49.42	A	310000	Acquired	2017-12-05	Common Stock (310000)	Direct

Holdings (Non-Derivative)

Security	Shares	Ownership
Common Stock	100296.081	Direct
Common Stock	4785.010	Indirect

Footnotes

F1: Includes 254.427 shares acquired on July 19, 2007 and 240.426 shares acquired by reporting person on October 18, 2007 by dividend reinvestment under the Dividend Reinvestment Plan for shareholders of Ecolab sponsored by Computershare Trust Company, Inc.

F2: Number of UNITS in the Ecolab Stock Fund of the Ecolab Savings Plan (401(k) Plan) as of October 31, 2007. Includes 24.093 UNITS acquired since the reporting person's last report. (The 4,785.010 UNITS are the equivalent of approximtely 8,933 SHARES of the issuer's Common Stock.)

F3: The option will be exercisable, on a cumulative basis, as to one-third of the option shares (excluding any fractional portion less than one share), on each of the first and second anniversaries of the date of grant and as to the remaining shares on the third anniversary of the date of grant; provided, however, that if a Change in Control (as that term is defined in the 2005 Ecolab Inc. Stock Incentive Plan) will occur, then the option, if it has been outstanding for at least six months from the date of grant, will become immediately exercisable in full.