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Environmental and Health Assessment of Substances in Household Detergents and Cosmetic Detergent Products 1. Introduction
The present study includes an environmental and human health hazard assessment of substances in household detergents and cosmetic detergent products. These products are used in high volumes, and the total annual consumption exceeded 70,000 tons in Denmark (in 1997) and 9,000,000 tons in Europe (in 1998). During the last decade particular attention has been addressed to the substances that are used in consumer products. Some components that were formerly used in these products have now been replaced by substances with better environmental or health properties. For example, the nonionic surfactants alkylphenol ethoxylates are transformed in the environment to recalcitrant metabolites that are more toxic than the original surfactants, and both alkylphenol ethoxylates and the metabolites are suspected to have ‘hormone-mimicking’, estrogenic effects. Today alkylphenol ethoxylates have largely been replaced by other surfactants in household detergents and personal care products by voluntary agreements between the authorities and industry. For other substances (e.g. preservatives), certain limit values define the maximum concentrations that are permitted for the different product types (Cosmetic Directive 2000). The report reviews the literature on the most important groups of substances in household detergents and cosmetic detergent products. The general approach has been to compile and evaluate data from standardized tests in order to direct the review towards the parameters that are included in the European legislation and to facilitate a comparison between the different substances. A few additional ecotoxicological laboratory tests were conducted in order to improve the knowledge on the inherent environmental properties of specific substances. The main emphasis is directed towards the four groups of surface active agents, i.e. anionic, nonionic, cationic, and amphoteric surfactants. The report presents a method for ranking of single substances on the basis of their inherent environmental or health properties. The ranking of substances may be used to indicate cases for a more detailed risk assessment or potentially hazardous chemicals that may be considered for substitution. The term ‘toxicity’ has been used throughout the report to describe either ecotoxicity or the potential effects towards human health. The specific sections for environmental and health assessment will probably solve the potential confusion in most cases. The report includes a large number of taxonomical names that may also lead to confusion as the nomenclature has changed for some species over the years. The approach in the present report is to apply the same names that were used in the original reference and to neglect changes in nomenclature that were decided after its publication. However, an exception was made for the freshwater microalga which was formerly known as Selenastrum capricornutum. Several names were proposed (including Raphidocelis subcapitata and Kirchneria subcapitata), before it was agreed that the correct name for this species is Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata (ISO 1999). For convenience, the name Selenastrum capricornutum is used to describe the studies conducted before 1999, whereas Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata is applied in the few cases where this name is used in the original reference. The following abbreviations have been used throughout the text. 1.1. List of abbreviations
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