Issues > May/June 2007 (#120) > Virtuous Cycles

Virtuous Cycles

Back in the day when washboards and clotheslines were the norm, a tub full of water and a bar of lye soap, sunlight, wind and a lot of elbow grease were the only things needed to clean, bleach and dry a load of clothes. But today's modern conveniences—mega-sized washers designed to launder for an NFL team, dryers that bake your clothes, detergents with their own muddy footprints—have upped the eco demands of this unavoidable task.

Awash in Chemicals

Thanks to government trade-secret laws, manufacturers of cleaners aren't required to disclose ingredients on product labels, making it difficult for consumers to choose an environmentally preferable and healthier alternative.

Although phosphates, still used in dishwashing detergents and known to promote algae growth that in turn suffocates aquatic life, have been phased out of laundry detergents, health risks remain with other laundry chemicals, most notably nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs). NPEs are surfactants (chemicals that help other ingredients penetrate dirt and grime) that belong to a class of hormone-disrupting compounds called alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs). Unfortunately, "It's added to lots of cleaning agents," says Jason Marshall, lab manager at the Toxics Use Reduction Institute.

Popular because they're inexpensive, petroleum-derived NPEs break down in the environment into nonylphenol, which harms the reproductive abilities and survival of fish. They also aren't easily removed by wastewater-treatment facilities; Sierra Club has detected NPEs in 61 percent of U.S. streams tested. Linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS), a common surfactant used instead of or in conjunction with NPEs and often listed on ingredients as "anionic surfactants," doesn't fare much better environmentally. Like phosphates, LAS can deprive water of oxygen and kill aquatic life.

Fortunately, NPEs are slowly being phased out in the U.S., thanks to European Union efforts to remove them, says Marshall. "Companies don't want to make four different products with four different formulations," he says.

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