1,4-Dioxane and Laundry Soap: Free and Gentle or a Marketing Free-for-All
Scientific American
May 7, 2012
Bill Chameides
More than 80,000 chemicals are produced, used, and present in the United States. This is one of their stories.
“Free of dyes and perfumes” on the label doesn’t mean free of carcinogens.
Independent Testing Reveals Undisclosed Ingredients
Recently the New York Times‘ Green blog raised the spotlight on a report released last November on toxic chemicals found in 20 popular cleaning products. Women’s Voices for the Earth, a national environmental group based in Missoula, Montana, had commissioned independent tests on all-purpose cleaners, laundry detergents, dryer sheets, air fresheners, disinfectant sprays, and furniture polish made by Clorox, Procter & Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, SC Johnson, and Sunshine Makers. The testing revealed that a number of the products had chemicals that are known to be allergens or are linked to reproductive and endocrine disruption … and cancer.
