Chemicals found in fabric softeners by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

The Toxic Dangers of Typical Laundry Detergent
by www.SixWise.com

Ordinary laundry detergents could leave dangerous chemical residues on clothes and skin.

Residues of these chemicals are left on your clothes and possibly absorbed by your skin and evaporated into the air where they could be breathed in.

A Typical Laundry Detergent

If you take a look at a bottle of laundry detergent, you'll find that the ingredients are rather vague. One popular brand listed, for instance:

• Cleaning agents (anionic and nonionic surfactants)
• Buffering agent
• Stabilizer
• Brightening agent
• Fragrance

From this list, it's hard to tell what, exactly, is even in the detergent, so we broke down some of the more common laundry ingredients out there.

Linear alkyl sodium sulfonates (LAS): These synthetic surfactants are commonly listed as 'anionic surfactants' on labels, and are one of the most common surfactants in use. During their production process, carcinogenic and reproductive toxins such as benzene are released into the environment. They also biodegrade slowly, making them a hazard in the environment.

Petroleum distillates (aka napthas): These chemicals have been linked to cancer, lung damage, lung inflammation and damage to mucous membranes.

Phenols: According to the National Institutes of Health, phenol is toxic and people who are hypersensitive to it could experience death or serious side effects at very low exposures. Plus, it is rapidly absorbed and can cause toxicity throughout the entire body. Typically, death and severe toxicity result from phenol's effects on the central nervous system, heart, blood vessels, lungs and kidneys.

One common surfactant in U.S. laundry detergents is nonyl phenol ethoxylate (this chemical has been banned in Europe, and was found to slowly biodegrade into even more toxic compounds). Studies have found that this surfactant stimulates the growth of breast cancer cells and feminizes male fish.

Are chemicals in commercial laundry detergents leaving your clothes dangerously clean?

Optical brighteners: These synthetic chemicals convert UV light wavelengths into visible light, which makes laundered clothes appear whiter (although does not actually affect the cleanliness of the clothing). They've been found to be toxic to fish and to cause bacterial mutations. Further, they can cause allergic reactions when exposed to skin that is later exposed to sunlight.

Phosphates: These chemicals are used to remove hard-water minerals to make detergents more effective, and to prevent dirt from settling back onto clothes during a wash. A major problem with them is that, when released into the environment, they stimulate the growth of certain marine plants, which contributes to unbalanced ecosystems. Many states have banned or restricted the use of phosphates for this reason, and you may see laundry detergents advertised as "low-phosphate" or "phosphate-free."

Sodium hypochlorite (household bleach): This is a chemical precursor to chlorine, which is highly toxic and involved in more household poisonings than any other chemical. When it reacts with organic materials in the environment, carcinogenic and toxic compounds are created than can cause reproductive, endocrine and immune system disorders.

EDTA (ethylene-diamino-tetra-acetate): EDTA is a class of compounds used as an alternative to phosphates to reduce mineral hardness in water, prevent bleaching agents from becoming active before they're put in water and as a foaming stabilizer. EDTA does not biodegrade readily and can re-dissolve toxic heavy metals in the environment, allowing them to re-enter the food chain.

Artificial fragrances: Many of these can be made from petroleum (see petroleum distillates above), and do not degrade in the environment. They've been linked to various toxic effects on fish and mammals, and often cause allergies and skin and eye irritation

From the Sierra Magazine

The Hidden Life Of...

Laundry

By Chris Borris

Ah, clean! Fresh-smelling towels, chubby-cheeked cherubs snuggling into soft blankets that have been lovingly bathed in chlorine, benzene, formaldehyde . . . what?! That’s not part of the image, but it is the reality for the 99.8 percent of Americans who use common commercial detergents, fabric softeners, bleaches, and stain removers. Plus doing our laundry burns through hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil and sends millions of pounds of chlorine into our air and water each year.

But we don’t have to put our health—or the environment—at risk to get our clothes brighter and whiter. Recipes for homemade greener cleaners abound, and nontoxic, eco-friendly laundry products are no longer rare. Looking for the best of the conventional brands, on the other hand, isn’t always easy. Cleaning-product ingredients are considered "trade secrets," so manufacturers aren’t required to list all of them on the label.

(Environmentally friendly brands often do list ingredients, since they have nothing to hide.) Philip Dickey, staff scientist at the Washington Toxics Coalition, advises consumers to look for products with specific, rather than general, claims: "90 percent biodegraded in three days," not just "biodegradable"; "contains no phosphates," not simply "environmentally safe."

Detergents and Bleaches: Thanks to activist efforts, many major makers of laundry products have reduced their use of phosphates, minerals that promote rapid (and ecologically dangerous) algae growth in lakes and streams. But the active ingredients in most detergents (called "surfactants") are still derived from petroleum, so the environmental damage starts with drilling, spilling, and refining oil—and can end with toxic residues contaminating our water and soil. Artificial fragrances, bleaches, and other additives in these "spring fresh" brews can cause rashes and aggravate asthma. Avoid these dangers by cleaning the old-fashioned way: with plant-based, fragrance-free soaps (and non-chlorine bleaches).

Dry Cleaning: Ever notice a harsh chemical smell clinging to your dry-cleaned clothes? That’s perchloroethylene, or "perc," a solvent that can cause dizziness, fatigue, confusion, nausea, and skin irritation in high doses, and—for those exposed to it repeatedly—liver damage and increased risk of miscarriage. Our air, soil, and water fare little better than our bodies: According to Greenpeace, 10 percent of drinking-water wells in California are contaminated with perc. And incinerating the chemical along with other hazardous waste generates dioxins and other pollutants. The Federal Trade Commission is proposing changing "dry-clean only" labels to recognize alternative methods, including "wet cleaning," a nontoxic, nonpolluting process that uses water and biodegradable soap. To find a wet cleaner near you, consult the Professional Wetcleaning Network (www.tpwn.net).

Stain Removers and Fabric Softeners: They may make your clothes look and feel clean, but these products can leave your garments tainted by formaldehyde and irritating synthetic fragrances. Spot removers also contain the pernicious perchloroethylene. A healthier alternative is probably as close as your kitchen cupboard: Some swear by egg yolk and lukewarm water for coffee stains, or sour milk or lemon juice followed by a salt rub and sun-drying for rust. Home Safe Home author Debra Lynn Dadd favors an all-purpose mixture of borax dissolved in cold water to treat blood, chocolate, coffee, and mildew stains. Clothes can be softened by adding baking soda during the rinse cycle. Look for a fabric softener with a natural base (such as soy) rather than one made from chemicals.

Washing: Why waste 40 gallons of water to do an average load of laundry? Front-loading washers use one-third to one-half the water and less soap than conventional top-loaders—and they’re gentler on clothes and wring them drier in the spin cycle, cutting dryer time and energy use. Although they may cost twice as much as conventional washers, Consumers Union estimates that you can earn the money back in as little as six years of savings on water and energy bills. (The EPA’s Energy Star program provides buying tips at www.energystar.gov.) Use even less energy by choosing the cold-water cycle, reserving warm water for your grimiest duds. Since 86 percent of the energy consumed by a washing machine goes to heating the water, one household can eliminate 1,600 pounds of annual carbon dioxide emissions by washing in cold.

Drying: The saints among us line-dry every load. The rest of us can make sure dryers are efficient, vented, cleaned, and kept in a heated space. Use the cooler permanent-press cycle, which takes advantage of residual heat. And try line-drying, at least in the summer: Not only will you prevent hundreds of pounds of CO2 from warming our planet, but your clothes will smell great, too.

Chris Borris is a freelance writer and editor living in Brooklyn, New York.

The Toxic Danger of Fabric Softener and Dryer Sheets
by SixWise.com

Although they may make your clothes feel soft and smell fresh, fabric softener and dryer sheets are some of the most toxic products around. And chances are that the staggering 99.8 percent of Americans who use common commercial detergents, fabric softeners, bleaches, and stain removers would think twice if they knew they contained chemicals that could cause cancer and brain damage.

Fabric softeners and dryer sheets with scents like April Fresh and Summer Orchard add toxic chemicals to your laundry and, consequently, your body.

Here is a list of just some of the chemicals found in fabric softeners and dryer sheets:

• Benzyl acetate: Linked to pancreatic cancer
• Benzyl Alcohol: Upper respiratory tract irritant
• Ethanol: On the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Hazardous Waste list and can cause central nervous system disorders
• Limonene: Known carcinogen
• A-Terpineol: Can cause respiratory problems, including fatal edema, and central nervous system damage
• Ethyl Acetate: A narcotic on the EPA's Hazardous Waste list
• Camphor: Causes central nervous system disorders
• Chloroform: Neurotoxic, anesthetic and carcinogenic
• Linalool: A narcotic that causes central nervous system disorders
• Pentane: A chemical known to be harmful if inhaled

So how could products with pretty names like Soft Ocean Mist, Summer Orchard and April Fresh be so dangerous?

The chemicals in fabric softeners are pungent and strong smelling -- so strong that they require the use of these heavy fragrances (think 50 times as much fragrance) just to cover up the smells. Furthermore, synthetic fabrics, which are the reason fabric softeners were created in the first place, do not smell good either when heated in a dryer or heated by our bodies ... hence the need for even more hefty fragrances.

In other words, remove all the added fragrance that endears people to fabric softeners and -- like the cliché wolf in sheep's clothing -- the real smells of the chemical-laced fabric softener and the synthetic fabrics they were designed around may prompt people to shoot their laundry machines and be done with it.

Are "Soft" Clothes Worth It?

Fabric softeners are made to stay in your clothing for long periods of time. As such, chemicals are slowly released either into the air for you to inhale or onto your skin for you to absorb. Dryer sheets are particularly noxious because they are heated in the dryer and the chemicals are released through dryer vents and out into the environment. Health effects from being exposed to the chemicals in fabric softeners include:

• Central nervous system disorders
• Headaches
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Dizziness
• Blood pressure reduction
• Irritation to skin, mucus membranes and respiratory tract
• Pancreatic cancer
   

Fabric Softener Is Dangerous

Environment and health activists have long expressed concern about the environmental and health dangers of fabric softeners. But now, according to a Quebec coroner, a Canadian woman may have burned to death because her terry-cloth robe became more flammable after being washed in liquid fabric softener.

The coroner is conducting a further investigation into the woman’s death last fall and says it's still too early to say whether warnings should be placed on all units of liquid fabric softener sold in Canada. But in a published statement, he said the fabric softener acted like an accelerant.

An autopsy on 65-year-old Janine Humblet revealed that she suffered second- and third-degree burns after she dropped a cigarette on her bathrobe last Sept. 22.

The American watchdog magazine Consumer Reports has singled out fabric softeners as a potential fire risk when used with cotton, terry cloth or velvet fabrics. In test results published in its August 2000 issue, the magazine said a common terrry-cloth house robe caught fire nearly seven times more quickly after being washed regularly with liquid fabric softener.

Liquid fabric softeners sold in Canada do carry warnings advising users not to use the products on fire-resistant clothing because they have been shown to reduce the effectiveness of fire-resistant materials.

Fabric softeners contain many substances that may also be harmful to people and the environment. These may include Benzyl Acetate which has been linked to pancreatic cancer; Benzyl Alcohol, which is irritating to the upper respiratory tract; ethanol, which is on the EPA Hazardous Waste list and can cause central nervous system disorders; Limonene, which is carcinogenic; and a-Terpineol, which can cause respiratory problems, even fatal edema, and central nervous system damage. Liquid fabric softeners often contain formaldehyde.