Are Leading Brand Laundry Detergents Environmentally Friendly?


Consumers have become concerned about the products they use that produce impacts towards the environment lately. Unfortunately, it can be difficult for consumers to find out just what ingredients are in certain products and to which extend they are environmental friendly. For instance, the leading one: Laundry detergents. You certainly won’t figure out just by looking at the contents, where you normally find the following puzzling message: “Ingredients include surfactants (anionic and nonionic) and enzymes.”

First of all, companies are not required by law to list their ingredients, and claim that their formulations are confidential. Secondly, the ingredients they use change over time, whether due to reformulation or simply the use of alternative ingredients to reduce costs. List of ingredients commonly used in the leading brands, and the way they impact the environment, a good idea of tells us what’s really inside:


Artificial fragrances
Artificial fragrances are made from petroleum. Many do not degrade in the environment, and may have toxic effects on both fish and mammals. Additionally, they often can cause allergies and skin or eye irritation.

Optical brighteners
Optical brighteners of many different synthetic chemicals when applied to clothing, convert UV light wavelengths to visible light, thus making laundered clothes appear "whiter." This does not enhance the product's performance in any way but they simply trick the eye. Optical brighteners do not readily biodegrade. They are toxic to fish when washed into the general environment and can create bacterial mutations. They can cause allergic reaction when in contact with skin that is then exposed to sunlight. Most optical brighteners are given trade names which consumers are unlikely to see on a label.

Phosphates
Phosphates are natural minerals and their role in laundry detergents is to remove hard water minerals and thus increase the effectiveness of the detergents themselves. They are also a deflocculating agent; that is, they prevent dirt from settling back onto clothes during washing. While relatively non-irritating and non-toxic in the environment, they nonetheless contribute to significant eutrophication of waterways and create unbalanced ecosystems by fostering dangerously explosive marine plant growth. For these reasons they are banned or restricted in many states and should be considered offensive.

Alkyl phenoxy polyethoxy ethanols
Synthetic surfactants that are slow to biodegrade in the environment and have been implicated in chronic health problems. Researchers in England have found that in trace amounts they activate estrogen receptors in cells, which in turn alters the activity of certain genes. For example, in experiments they have been found to stimulate the growth of breast cancer cells and feminize male fish. One member of this family of chemicals is used as a common spermicide, indicating the general level of high biological toxicity associated with these compounds.