Chemicals in Home Cleaning Products Revealed
Manufacturers to Disclose Ingredients in Detergents and Soaps
Sep 24, 2009
A voluntary program by makers of household products including Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive, and Clorox means that, staring in January 2010, consumers should be able find out what chemicals are in their favorite home cleaner by calling an 800 number, looking at a Web site or even simply reading the product label.
Home Cleaners, Chemicals, and Health
Users of the all-purpose cleaner de-greaser Simple Green would never know from the label that the active chemical ingredient in the spray cleaner the same one as in Formula 409. Both contain the toxic solvent ethylene glycol butyl ether; neither disclose it on their label. EGBE is on California's list of toxic air pollutants and has been linked to testicular damage, reduced fertility, death of embryos and birth defects, according to “Household Hazards," a report by the nonprofit organization Women’s Voices for the Earth..
Chemicals in other cleaners are known respiratory irritants and may contribute to asthma, a concern for many with young children. Chemical fragrances often contain benzene, which may cause cancer, and many products contain phthalates, which may disrupt natural hormones in people. Manufacturers maintain that all the ingredients in their products are legal and perfectly safe if used as directed.
While household chemicals are of special concern for anyone suffering from multiple chemical sensitivity or who otherwise react to a cleaning chemical, the Environmental Working Group argues that the massive number of chemicals on the U.S. consumer market with little to no health effects data should alarm everyone. The group is advocating for draft legislation in Congress called the Kid Safe Chemicals Act which would reform the existing Toxic Substances Control Act to require health testing of chemicals and make it easier for the federal government to take harmful ones off the market.
Popularity of Green Cleaning Drives Proliferation of Eco- Labels but Little Information
According to the market research firm Mintel International, there was a $64.5 million market for green cleaning products in 2008, up from just $17.7 in 2003. The proliferation of green labels and marketing claims in recent years has many environmentalists crying "greenwashing." While the U.S. Federal Trade Commission will stop companies from making blatantly false environmental claims about their products, no federal law requires ingredient disclosure, only safety warming labels.
At the same time many companies put eco-friendly labels on their dish detergents, cleaners and soaps, they have defended closely guarded "trade secrets" and "proprietary information" about both the active and inactive chemicals in those products. Companies argue that revealing the full ingredient list would enable their competition to create cheap knock-offs of their product without going through the effort of developing their own formula. Consumer demand for transparency and lawsuits by environmental non-profits are among the factors influencing the industry's decision to lift the veil of secrecy from product formulas.
Voluntary Industry Disclosure of Cleaning Product Chemicals Begins January 2010
In early 2009, the nonprofit environmental law firm Earthjustice sued Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive and two smaller companies for violating a little-known and never-enforced 1976 New York State law requiring makers of household cleaners to list ingredients. While contesting the suit, Procter & Gamble has signed on to a disclosure plan being developed by major corporations and consumer groups.
S.C. Johnson & Son Inc., the manufacturer of Windex, Glade, and Shout brands, made headlines in March with its announcement that it would begin disclosing full ingredient lists for all cleaning products on its web site. The Clorox Company, which makes Formula 409, Pine-Sol, Tilex and Clorox, has ingredient information posted for its Green Works line of cleaning products and many others of its brands.
Will Voluntary Labeling by Cleaning Product Industry Go Far Enough?
Women’s Voices for the Earth called the industry's plan a step in the right direction. “The voluntary plan is not perfect, but it is worlds ahead of where the industry was before,” spokeswoman Alexandra Scranton told the New York Times.
But the industry-run labeling and disclosure program is not making all critics happy. "We are concerned no one knows what's in these products and that it's not very easy to find out," Tom Neltner, chairman of the Sierra Club's Toxics Committee told the Wall Street Journal
Environmental organizations are concerned that companies could pick and choose which chemicals or products to disclose and inconsistent or insufficient information will be a barrier to consumers. They argue that there should be federally mandated standards for disclosure and that chemicals should be listed on the label so consumers can access chemical information at point of purchase.
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