Monday, October 25, 2010

Surfactants in the Environment

"Come on!  I've been using the same laundry detergent for 30 years without a second thought and I've had no problems.   I don't have time for this."    Well, THINK AGAIN!

If you're old enough to remember the water pollution problem of the 60's and you think detergent makers fixed the problem, think again.   Water pollution today, and not just from detergents but pharmaceutics, agriculture, etc, etc, makes the dirty water and dead fish of the past feel like child's play.
While waterways look much cleaner and don't give off the awful smell of decay today, micro-sized particles of much more potent chemicals contained by them may very well be having a much more devastating effect on our health and the health of wildlife.   I'll list three examples of what I mean.

1.  From a video made by Cornell University  - A presentation on the dangers of detergent surfactants and how they are suspected in their role in the rise of breast cancer in women. 

 "What goes down the drain?  Laundry detergent, dish soaps, shampoo - all that stuff.    All those chemicals in the products you use don't just go away.   They go through sewage treatment plants but even though sewage is treated these chemicals can still end up in soil, in rivers, in lakes - end up in wildlife and some of these chemicals may end up in your water supply.  Have you ever stopped to think what kind of chemicals are in those cleaning products?  Surfactants, used to get the dirt out.  Surfactants that go down the drain and breakdown into environmental estrogen.   Chemicals like nonyphenol and octylphenol, chemicals that can get into the environment.    And scientists know these environmental estrogens can harm wildlife - they know they make male fish develop more like female fish.   And they're concerned that exposure to these chemicals can also increase women's risk of developing breast cancer.   Because environmental estrogens can make breast cancer cells grow and divide and 75% of all breast tumors need estrogen to grow.   So all the environmental estrogen that wash down the drain, from cleaning products and personal care products get into the environment and can add up and put you at risk for breast cancer, can put other women at risk for breast cancer."  Dump and Drain

2. The appearance of intersex fish throughout the US, is frightening.  Male fish that are developing female characteristics, including ovaries.  What is the extent of this problem?  One researcher says 80% to 100% (which is it? 80 or 100?) of the black bass studied in the Shenandoah River have been found to be inter sexed.  In the Potomac, in which the Shenandoah flows, about 60%.    Two obvious reason why this should be of concern, 1).  If fish become all female, how can fish reproduce? and   2.) It gives us an idea of how polluted the water actually is throughout the US.   Researchers believe the reason this mutation is taking place is due to endocrine disruptors that are released into the water through discharges from waste water treatment plants,  farms, ranches and water that flows directly into rivers after it rains.   The list of possible endocrine disruptors includes surfactants.  One such list can be found at:  http://www.catabariverkeeper.org/endocrine-disruptors--in-the-catawba-river .

3. From Australia, an interview with Dr. Taylor, an expert on frogs.
 "Frogs are the highest form of life that lay naked eggs in water, as a result, any pollutant in the water will have an impact on the egg and tadpoles.  Because we use so many insecticides, herbicides,  heavy metals...we are destroying the environment and frogs are the creature that is telling us this in a very clear fashion."   "What kills frogs are what are called surfactants, essentially soap products.  Because of this frogs are not able to breathe through their skin and they die."  Interview with Prof. Mike Taylor
A study done by a team of Italian researchers done on tadpoles backs Dr. Taylor's claims.    A short summary of this can be seen by googling  "surfactants and tadpoles".   

The above is just a small sampling of problems that surfactants have been identified as being a major culprit.   What is hoped is you begin to realize that detergents, other cleaning products and personal care products are nowhere near as benign as the products being pushed in commercials and ads, in fact quite the opposite.

With hundreds of different kinds of surfactants on the market today and all their usage, the above does in no way condemn the use of surfactants altogether.  Indeed, there are perhaps many usages for surfactants that are beneficial for mankind.   However, not  in the formulation of a household product that is used worldwide to the extent that it is - not in laundry formulation.  

Living in a world where children need to know about "endocrine disruptors" and "environmental estrogens" really doesn't seem very attractive.  Can't name all the mistakes mankind has made throughout history but one that was made 60 years ago, putting surfactants into laundry formulations was one.    It's time to recognize this mistake and correct it.

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