What's In Laundry Detergent?

It amazes me that the most popular laundry detergents on the market contain the most toxic ingredients.  Lets just start with a couple of those ingredients. 

Dioxane: a by-product of ethylene oxide which is used to lessen the severity of the harsher ingredients such as alcohols and phenols.    Is it safe?

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency classifies dioxane as a probable human carcinogen. " ...Dioxane is also shown to be irritating to the eyes and respiratory tract. It is suspected of causing damage to the central nervous system, liver and kidneys" -Wiki

There is more than enough evidence on the dangers of Dioxane and the big companies are well aware of these dangers. So why do they continue to use a known toxic chemical?  the answer is simple, because it's cheap. Need I say more.

 Phenols are another common ingredient in laundry detergent; Alkyl phenoxy polyethoxy ethanols, these are synthetic surfactants that are said to be highly toxic.  Not to mention dyes, perfumes, fillers or phosphates all of which are nasty and completely superfluous. Of course these ingredient also cause a great deal of environmental damage

There are some natural products on the market, but you still have to be careful.  Many laundry detergents that are marketed as "non-toxic" are actually said to contain one or two toxic ingredients. So the consumer really needs to do homework.

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