Can laundry detergent ingredients affect the environment?
Laundry detergent ingredients become part of your laundry wastewater, which ultimately ends up in the environment. So, the impact of laundry detergent ingredients on the environment depends largely on how wisely you choose and use your detergent. BIODEGRADABILITY This term refers to how readily an organic substance is broken down by microorganisms. Surfactants, which are the active cleaning ingredients, are required to biodegrade according to Australian Standard 4351. This means that surfactants will have low environmental impact in all usual laundry practices. Note: This standard applies for organic material only. Non-organic ingredients cannot by definition be biodegradable, so the term “biodegradability” is irrelevant for many essential laundry detergent ingredients. It does not mean that they are bad for the environment if the detergent is used in the recommended way. TOTAL DISSOLVED SOLIDS (TDS) This term describes all ingredients that are dissolved in laundry wastewater. Sodium i
