Toxic Chemicals in Common Laundry Products

by Dr. Amy Wiesner

The most common, name brand laundry detergents contain toxic chemicals. Some of the ingredients are even considered carcinogenic. And they don’t even have to be listed on the label of ingredients, according to Dr. Anne Steinemann of the University of Washington. (See a previous article on this site about toxins found in detergents and health and beauty products.)

Dr. Steinemann did two separate studies on the toxicity of laundry detergents. The first study was published in 2008 after she analyzed three laundry products: a laundry detergent, fabric softener and dryer sheet and three common air fresheners. She found that about 100 volatile organic substances were given off by the products she studied and that none were listed on the products’ labels. She also stated that the fragrances of such products, including fragrances used in cosmetics, tend to cause the most problems for people's health. What's more, they aren’t required to be listed on the label.

Another study she did on the harmful products in laundry detergent centered around the chemicals being released from the dryer’s vent during the dry cycle. She and her team found that the toxic chemicals included in the laundry products are then emitted into the environment when heated and released through the dryer vent. Dr. Steinemann says, obviously, dryer vents are not monitored and therefore we don’t know how much of an impact this is having on the planet.

Unfortunately, some natural and green products are also suspect as she included some in her study.  

The bottom line seems to be to avoid the products that have the following descriptions of fragrance on the label (which hides some of the toxic chemicals):

-Fragrance
-Perfume
-Parfum
-Limonene
-Linool
-d-Limonene

If you really want to be cautious about it, you can create your own detergents and household cleaners.  This is better for the environment and your health.

Image courtesy of ScienceDaily.com.

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[germantown]

That's really true that some dangerouse toxics are not mentioned in most fragnance labels. Great danger to people's health. Thanks sharing this important information.