Issues > March/April 2007 (#119) > Cleaner and Greener Laundry

Cleaner and Greener Laundry

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Fabric Softeners

Fabric softeners can build up on clothing, making them look dull. They also hinder the absorptive abilities of towels, so if you do choose to use them on other clothing, never use them on towels. In terms of health risks, however, a study in the May 2000 issue of the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health found that they emit, among other chemicals, the neurotoxins toluene and trimethylbenzene, styrene (a possible carcinogen), the respiratory irritants phenol and xylene, and thymol, which can cause abdominal distress.

Cleaner Clothes and a Dirtier World?

Waterways and Aquatic Life

After bubbly detergents disappear down our drains, they are treated along with sewage and other wastewater at municipal treatment plants, then discharged into nearby waterways. Most ingredients in chemical cleaners break down into harmless substances during treatment or soon afterward. Others, however, do not, threatening water quality or fish and other wildlife. Chlorine bleach combines with carbon molecules, creating harmful organochlorines such as dioxin. In 2000, the EPA found that the San Francisco Bay, which had high levels of dioxin, was being fed by municipal gray water that included, in large part, laundry water containing fabric-bleaching chemicals.

In a May 2002 study of contaminants in stream water samples across the country, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) found persistent detergent metabolites, which are detergent chemicals that have passed through microorganisms, in 69 percent of streams tested. Sixty-six percent contained disinfectants.

The detergent metabolites the USGS detected were APEs, including nonylphenol ethoxylates and octylphenol ethoxylates. When discharged in municipal wastewater, nonylphenol ethoxylates and octylphenol ethoxylates break down into nonylphenol and octylphenol, which are more toxic and do not readily biodegrade in soil and water. The presence of APEs have been shown to mimic the hormone estrogen, and their presence in water may be harming the reproduction and survival of salmon and other fish. For example, in Britain, researcher John Sumpter discovered that male fish exposed to APEs in rivers were producing female egg-yolk proteins.

According to the USGS, 3,500 kilograms of LAS are dumped into the Mississippi River basin every day, depriving water of oxygen and killing aquatic life.

Surfactants of all types are harmful to the environment because they don't biodegrade quickly. As they build up in ground water, they deprive the soil of moisture, essentially creating "water-repellant soil" that hinders the growth of plants.

When water-softening phosphates enter waterways, they act as a fertilizer, spawning overgrowth of algae. This overabundance of aquatic plant life eventually depletes the water's oxygen supply, killing off fish and other organisms.

The bleaching ingredient sodium perborate has been shown to harm aquatic life and to emit toxic fumes when heated during incineration.

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