Cristina Lopez CristnaRoseLopez School: Cal State Northridge GREENER

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1 Cristina Lopez CristnaRoseLopez School: Cal State Northridge GREENER Gather all of the cleaning and laundry products in your home, apartment or dorm. Take a photo and caption it with the product names and brands. Sprouts Laundry Detergent Homemade Cleaner Aura Cacia Lemon Essential Oil If You Care Biodegradable Gloves Eco Instinct Soap Crystals Arm & Hammer Baking Soda ***Because the EWG didn t have my laundry in the guide, I will be using my roommates Comet Bleach since it is scored on the EWG site. And the photo will be featured below Select one of these products and list ingredients and retail price. Search the product on EWG s Guide to Healthy Cleaning and use the label decoder to define the ingredients.

2 I ll be selecting the Sprouts Laundry Detergent, because I bought it at the farmers market I couldn t find the price but I recall it being around $10 b And the comet bleach that is priced around $16 for a 6-pack on Amazon INGREDIENTS For the detergent: Sodium Lauryl Sulfate scored a C even though mine says its plant derived, Sodium lauryl sulfate is the sodium salt of lauryl sulfate. (EWG skin deep) laureth-7 also scored a C, Laureth-7 is a polyethylene glycol-based surfactant; may contain potentially toxic impurities such as 1,4-dioxane. (Skin Deep) sodium oleate scored an A, Sodium Oleate is a sodium salt of oleic acid. (EWG/Skin Deep) sodium citrate scored a A, manufacturers use sodium citrate to adjust the acidity of a product. Citrate, in the form of citric acid, is also found in citric fruits and juices. (skin deep) This substance is Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) as a food additive by the US Food and Drug Administration Only in: Household Cleaners (EWG) sodium chloride scored an A, this is table salt methylisothiazolinone scored a D via Skin Deep: Methylisothiazolinone is a widelyused preservative; has been associated with allergic reactions. Lab studies on the brain cells of mammals also suggest that methylisothiazolinone may be neurotoxic. For the bleach, ironically the cleaner didn t list ingredients on the bottle. I had to google the website just to look it up: COMET BLEACH Calcium Carbonate Calcium Hydroxide A this is basically salt A An inorganic base Fragrance D The word "fragrance" or "parfum" on the product label represents an undisclosed mixture of various scent chemicals and ingredients used as fragrance dispersants such as diethyl phthalate. Fragrance mixes have been associated with allergies, dermatitis, respiratory distress and potential effects on the reproductive system (Skin Deep) Green 7 C No information

3 Sodium Carbonate A an inorganic salt Sodium Linear Alkylbenzenesulfonate Trichloro-s-triazinetrione C N/A What is the product rating? The detergent wasn t on the EWG guide, however the Comet product was labeled with a D What are the top three ingredients and their individual ratings? Detergent: SODIUM LAURYL SULFATE scored a C even though mine says its plant derived. laureth-7 also scored a C sodium oleate scored an A Comet Bleach Calcium Carbonate Calcium Hydroxide Fragrance A A D What are three adverse health impacts that you learned about the product ingredients? For the bleach, it had a moderate concern rating for causing asthma & respiratory problems, even worse it had chronic aquatic toxicity as an environmental concern. Even though not all of the ingredients I looked up had a bad grade, the ones that do are still detrimental. This product also had a d developmental & reproductive toxicity alert, which means women who are pregnant, nursing, or simply children shouldn t be around this product or the fumes ( fragrance ) that it releases. Although the detergent wasn t on the website, the preservative methylisothiazolinone scored high as a dangerous ingredient on the EWG as well as Skin Deep. Its said to have caused allergic reactions however its not an organic nature based ingredient so who knows what impact it could have with multiple uses. Also the lauryl/laureth products are of concern because mine says its plant based but that doesn t mean its safe from other chemicals:

4 No matter where the alcohol comes from, it s still mixed with the other chemicals to produce SLS or SLES or other forms of the ingredient. The result is still a chemical that is a long way from the original coconut oil. We may feel better having something that originated from coconut oil rather than from petroleum, but that doesn t mean the chemical will not be irritating to skin or hair, or that it will not be contaminated from manufacturing processes. How can we be sure of the extent of the contamination? We have no way of knowing. Companies can vacuum-strip ingredients to take the 1,4-dioxane out, but you won t find anything on the label telling you whether or not they did that. Source: lfate-from-coconut-safer-than-regular-sls/ Select a greener or DIY alternative to the product. Take a photo or screenshot of your green alternative and caption it with ingredients and retail price. Create a visual side-by-side comparison of your conventional product and it s green alternative with all of the requested info. Will you consider making the switch and would you recommend it to your friends? Why or why not? Post your visual on Facebook. Caption the photo with one benefit of cleaning green. and use the hashtags #PGC2016 and #GreenClean. facebook instagram posted on instagram too

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