Ecopol Project - Portland State University

Dish Soap. Friend or Foe?

By: Christina Hampson

There are many unnecessary ingredients in dish washing soap that don’t need to be there; some of which are even bad for the environment or harmful to people. Regular dish washing soap contains ingredients such as Alkyl Phenoxy Ethanols (APEs), diethanolamine (DEA), lauryl and laureth sulfates, phosphates, and synthetic fragrances. APEs are toxic and suspected to be carcinogenic, and are known skin irritants. DEA is a skin and eye irritant and a suspected carcinogen. Lauryl and laureth sulfates surfactants that can irritate your hands by destroying the protective lipid barrier on your skin. Phosphates become a problem when they create things known as dead zones by washing into streams and rivers, and eventually making it to the ocean feeding algae and bacteria along the way and letting them grow uncontrolled and consume all of the oxygen in the water causing fish and other ocean life to suffocate. Synthetic fragrances are just an unnecessary component that doesn’t need to be added. In addition to these dangerous and environmentally unfriendly ingredients, the way that dish soap is often packaged is not very friendly to the environment either. There is a lot of unnecessary plastic used in making dish soap containers, which not only wastes plastic, but also makes the containers heavier and more environmentally costly to ship around. Luckily there are some very effective environmentally friendly dish soaps available with smart ingredients and good packaging.

Following are some brands of dish soap that you can use instead of the soap you use now to do your part to protect the environment:

• Life tree Dish Soap
• Ecover Dish Soap
• Method Dish Soap
• Seventh Generation Dish Soap
• Bio Pac Dishwashing Liquid
• Satin Sheen Concentrated Dish Washing Liquid

There are some there are some bad ingredients in lots of dish soaps that make them bad for you and bad for the environment. There are however plenty of highly effective earth friendly dish soaps that you can use instead of your normal dish soap.  And remember, a few drops of soap is all it takes.

Works Cited:

Aguirre, Sarah. "Top 6 Environmetally Friendly Dish Soap." About.com Housekeeping. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Aug. 2012. <http://housekeeping.about.com/od/dishes/tp/environmentdish.htm>.

Conrad, Jamie. "Harmful Chemicals in Dish Soap." EHow. Demand Media, 27 Dec. 2009. Web. 12 Aug. 2012. <http://www.ehow.com/facts_5802351_harmful-chemicals-dish-soap.html>.

"Environmental And Green News." Harmful Chemicals To You And The Environment. N.p., 14 Jan. 2007. Web. 12 Aug. 2012. <http://www.infinitehealthresources.com/Store/Resource/Article/85/1/1119.html>.

"Green? Or Clean? With Dishwasher Detergents, That Is the Question." Brave New Leaf. N.p., 24 Jan. 2008. Web. 12 Aug. 2012. <http://www.bravenewleaf.com/environment/2008/01/green-or-clean.html>.

"Surfactant." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Aug. 2012. Web. 12 Aug. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfactant>.

 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfactant>.