Many detergents contain unwanted chemicals

According to a new study, one in three laundry and cleaning products contain chemicals, which can be problematic for humans or the environment. The study by the Danish Consumer Council THINK Chemicals includes all the different kinds of detergents that we have tested and rated since November 2020.

The study comprises of eight tests of e.g. dishwashing detergents, all-purpose cleaners and stain removers. Of the 196 different products examined, 47 products received the C-rating, which is the lowest chemical rating given in the tests.

These washing and cleaning detergents contain problematic substances that can be e.g. allergenic, suspected endocrine disrupters (EDCs) or problematic to the environment.

“It is unfortunate that so many laundry and cleaning products contain problematic chemicals that are not even essential in the products,” says project manager at the Danish Consumer Council THINK Chemicals, Stine Müller, who has taken part in many of the tests.

Perfume is unnecessary

Many of the tested laundry and cleaning detergents contain perfume. This worries the organization Asthma-Allergy Denmark.

”Perfuming substances can cause allergy and if you become allergic to a substance you can get eczema, which can become quite serious and turn chronic, thereby affecting your quality of life,” says Rikke Bille, head of The Blue Label, Asthma-Allergy Nordics  certification for allergy-friendly products.

“Furthermore, we know that these fragrances are not at all necessary for proper cleaning. However, since many people associate cleaning with a good smell, the manufacturers add perfume to the cleaning products. But the manufacturers should live up to their responsibilities and stop using perfume since it is a completely unnecessary exposure for the consumers,” she says.

According to Stine Müller, the use of the problematic substances in detergents is mostly legal. She also points out that the products that receive the C-rating are not in themselves harmful to use – if you follow the instructions for use.

“Using these products, you expose yourself and the environment to unwanted chemicals, which contributes to our overall exposure to chemicals – the so-called cocktail effect. This can potentially pose a risk to your health and the environment in the end. Therefore, we recommend products that receive the A-rating in our tests,” says Stine Müller.

Harmful to the environment

The study from the Danish Consumer Council THINK Chemicals shows that a third of the tested washing and cleaning detergents contain substances that are harmful to the environment.

According to Heidi Belinda Bugge, Danish Criteria Manager at Ecolabelling Denmark, this is a very high number.

”When we are done using the laundry and cleaning detergents, they end up in our drain when we empty our sinks or when the washing machine discharges water. In Denmark, our sewage treatment clean the wastewater for nutrients and organic matter but not for all environmentally harmful substances. Therefore, we need to take into account that some of these environmentally harmful substances end up in the water environment, and thus in nature, where they can do harm. Substances that are harmful to the environment can be toxic to aquatic organisms and not all of them are easily degradable and thus, they remain in the water environment.”

Last year, a group of scientists published an article wherein they argued that humans have produced so many hundreds of thousands of chemicals and in such large quantities that the earth can no longer transform and neutralize them. The environmentally harmful substances in laundry and cleaning detergents contribute to the growing chemical strain on the environment.

The Danish Consumer Council THINK Chemicals found optical brighteners and the group of substances called LAS (Linear alkylbenzene sulfonates) in several of the tested laundry detergents for white clothes. Both can be problematic for the environment as they are not easily degradable in nature and can be harmful to fish and other aquatic organisms.

Further, several of the fragrances and some of the preservatives, such as the isothiazolinones commonly used in laundry and cleaning detergents are classified in the EU as harmful to the environment.

”We use cleaning products to clean but at the same time we need to find a balance where the product works and are without unnecessary chemicals such as optical brighteners that do not affect the efficiency of the washing detergent. We also need to replace the environmentally harmful substances with alternatives. For example, there are alternative to LAS that are not as harmful,” says Heidi Belinda Bugge.

Difficult to find out what the products contain

It is not always easy to see from the packaging which chemicals your laundry and cleaning products contain. For example, it does not have to be declared on the packaging if a laundry product contains borates even though the substances are on the EU Candidate list of substances of very high concern (suspected of damaging fetuses and fertility). The Danish Consumer Council THINK Chemicals calls for obligatory labelling requirements of all ingredients.

"Consumers should be able to get the full ingredient list by just checking the packaging,” says Stine Müller. Furthermore, she points out that the full list of ingredients, which must be available online for all laundry and cleaning products, is often difficult to find on the manufacturers’ websites.

The EU is currently revising the regulations on chemicals in laundry and cleaning products. This includes the rules for declarations.

In Denmark: Use the app Kemiluppen to avoid problematic chemicals in detergents

Fortunately, there are several ways to avoid unwanted chemicals. Danish consumers can use the free app Kemiluppen (only available in Denmark) to check if the laundry and cleaning products contain unwanted chemicals.

Stine Müller recommends using Kemiluppen to check not only the laundry and cleaning products that you want to buy but also the ones you already have at home.

“But if you find products with the C-rating at home, you do not need to panic or dispose of them. Use them and then buy products with the A-rating when you need new laundry and cleaning products,” she says.

When we test and assess cosmetics, personal care products or laundry and cleaning detergents, many products receive the B- or C-rating. The good news is that there are also always products that receive the best chemical rating, the A-rating.

"There are always good alternatives to choose if you wish to avoid problematic substances,” says Stine Müller.

She points out that it is always important to follow the instructions for use no matter the products’ chemical rating in Kemiluppen. For example, many laundry and cleaning products contain chemicals or have pH levels that can irritate, or even harm, your skin and eyes and should be kept out of reach of children. This is also the case for A-rated products since these short-term effects are not part of the Kemiluppen rating.