One of the commendable efforts consumers have made in the name of living green has been to switch to natural or organic cleaning products. With Earth Day today, perhaps even more consumers will make the switch. And it’s a good move. If we can avoid washing nasty chemicals down the drain, why not? But here’s a heads-up: All those cleaning products that claim to be “organic” or “natural” might not be all they’re cracked up to be.
A recent study by the Organic Consumers Association (a news report on the study can be found here shows that as many as 50 percent of products tested contained a detectable level of the carcinogen 1,4-dioxane. Some of the more well-known offending brands include Method and Seventh Generation. Officials with Method said they never claimed to have organic or natural products, just that their products are “naturally derived.” Fantastic bit of spin there. If you’re wondering, some of the worst products tested were body washes and dish soaps.
Many brands, including Clorox’s new Green Works line, had no detectable amount of 1,4-dioxane, which has been known to cause cancer in lab animals. A listing of all the products tested is available here: http://www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare/DioxaneResults08.cfm.
- Nick