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Laundry Detergent Alternatives
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Claim: The environmental impact of detergent "alternatives" will be lower than that of laundry detergents because no chemicals are used. Fact: Washing with detergent "alternatives" will have the same environmental impact as washing with water alone. But then, they only get clothes as clean as washing with clean water. More importantly, the ingredients used in laundry detergents are carefully selected and researched to be safe for the environment.(4, 5) Laundry detergents are a mix of ingredients typically including surfactants, b uilders, antiredeposition agents, processing aids, washer protection agents and water. In some detergents other ingredients are included to provide additional benefits such as better fabric whitening or brightening, improved stain removal and fabric softe ning. Chemicals are either inorganic or organic. Inorganics, like sodium carbonate, silicate and sulfate, are found in nature. These materials, once they go down the drain, return to nature and cause no detrimental effects to the environment, much the same as s and and minerals settle back to the ocean floor. Organic chemicals are composed essentially of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Detergent formulators are careful to select organic compounds that readily biodegrade. This means they are broken down by the action of microorganisms in municipal sewage treatment plants and septic tank systems to carbon dioxide, water and minerals. In this way, the organic ingredients are sufficiently removed so that any residuals discharged into the environment are at such low levels they do not pose a risk to aquatic life. Some detergent "alternatives" claim that phosphate in laundry detergents causes environmental problems. This is not true. Because phosphates are nutrients, they were thought to contribute to the eutrophication of lakes and streams, that is, causing algae to grow too quickly due to overfertilization. Although detergent phosphates contributed less than 5% of the country's phosphate addition to waterways (human and animal wastes and fertilizer being the main contributors), the industry has lessened the phosp hate impact by lowering laundry detergent phosphate levels since 1972, with major manufacturers finally eliminating phosphate in 1994. As a result, it is totally false and misleading to describe laundry detergents as being toxic or pollutants. They are designed to go down the drain when their cleaning job is done, and be safely treated in municipal sewage treatment facilities or in septi c tank systems. Detergents and their ingredients are well researched by toxicologists and environmental scientists, their fate in the environment is known, and they can be used by consumers with confidence in their human and environmental safety.
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Introduction Claims