Detergents 'are bad for health and environment': Study says people wash clothes too often
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.(First Edition)
A COMMERCIALLY-inspired obsession with the 'optical illusion' of whiter-than-white clothes has taken a heavy toll on human health and the environment, according to a new study of soap powders and detergents.
The study, Clean Clothes, Dirty Water, from the Women's Environmental Network, accuses big manufacturers such as Lever Brothers and Procter & Gamble of environmentally irresponsible packaging, 'sexist and stereotyped' advertising and of producing 'some of the most incomplete, confusing and misleading environmental labelling to be found on the supermarket shelves'.
It calls for a shift in attitude towards clothes cleaning. People are 'overdosing' their washing machines - and thus the sewers - with detergent, washing clothes too often - which shortens their life - and using too many unnecessary ingredients with potentially harmful side-effects.
It says these include perfumes, colourants and optical brighteners, which do not make clothes cleaner but create a 'blue-white' optical illusion. These substances biodegrade poorly and are associated with allergic reactions and skin and eye irritation.
Among other substances which build up in water supplies as a result of detergent use are toxic heavy metals such as arsenic and cadmium, and sodium, a constituent of bleach which may play a part in the rise in male infertility.
The report also explicitly rejects manufacturers' claims that removing phosphates from detergents will reduce their cleaning power but make little difference to environmental quality. It says detergents account for between 20 and 60 per cent of the phospherous build-up in waterways and are thus a major cause of eutrophication, in which streams and lakes suffer blooms of algae.
Despite near-saturation of the market and the success of new concentrates, detergent consumption has increased by 40 per cent since 1985. The study says vast advertising expenditure has helped Lever Brothers and Procter & Gamble maintain a virtual stranglehold on the market.
Commercial detergents 'need not be used at all', it adds. Environmentally-friendly home-made alternatives can be made from grated soap and washing soda - the report provides recipes.
So-called 'green' detergents can produce similar results to commercial ones, but may require pre-treatment, such as soaking or brushing, for heavily soiled clothes.
No one was available to comment yesterday at Lever Brothers or Procter & Gamble.
Clean Clothes, Dirty Water, WEN, Aberdeen Studios, 22 Highbury Grove, London N5 2EA; pounds 5.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments