Clipping Board » Environmental Pollution & Change ─ How dirty the human heart is, how dirty the environment will be...
United Evening News / Reporter Liu Kaiyuan / Taipei Report / December 3, 2013
Disclosure by Homemakers United Foundation
The Homemakers United Foundation and the News & Market platform pointed out this morning that the ingredient labeling of 35 commercially available laundry detergent brands claiming to be "antibacterial" or "anti-mite" is unclear. Among them, the "Magic Housekeeper Anti-Mite & Anti-Allergy Laundry Detergent" was found to contain the chemical "Permethrin," which is classified as both a pesticide and an environmental chemical. The detected concentrations far exceed the permissible residue limits for pesticides on fruits and vegetables by tens to hundreds of times.
Test results showed that different batches of Magic Housekeeper Anti-Mite & Anti-Allergy Laundry Detergent contained Permethrin levels of 76.3 ppm (parts per million), 37.8 ppm, and 44.6 ppm, respectively. In comparison, the current permissible residue limit for pesticides on general fruits and vegetables is only 0.05 ppm.
Permethrin is commonly used to kill cockroaches.
The Homemakers United Foundation and News & Market randomly purchased 35 laundry detergent products from the market and commissioned the Meiho University Agricultural and Aquatic Product Inspection Service Center to conduct the tests, yielding the above results.
Huang Jialin, Secretary-General of the Homemakers United Foundation, stated that Permethrin is a synthetic pyrethroid insecticide with high fat solubility and is considered an environmental hormone that can interfere with animal uterine functions. When used on general fruits and vegetables, the permissible residue limit is 0.05 ppm. Besides being used as a pesticide, it is also commonly employed as a household environmental chemical to control cockroaches and disease-carrying mosquitoes.
Long-term exposure can harm human health.
Professor Wu Kunyu from the National Taiwan University Department of Public Health explained this morning that Permethrin is a neurotoxin. Contact with the eyes or absorption through the skin can cause harm. Prolonged exposure can damage human health, and the wastewater from laundering with Permethrin-containing detergents can also harm ecosystems. For a 60 kg adult, the safe daily intake of Permethrin is 3 mg. However, when accounting for pesticide residues from fruits and vegetables, environmental pollution, and even exposure from Permethrin-containing laundry detergents, the total intake may exceed safe daily limits.
Wang Wenhao, co-founder of News & Market, noted that ingredient labels on other laundry detergent brands vaguely list terms like "antibacterial agent" or "anti-mite agent" without detailing the specific chemical components. Some brands list Triclosan as an antibacterial agent, which can produce carcinogenic chloroform and dioxins when in contact with tap water—a matter requiring government attention.
Huang Jialin added that the Bureau of Standards, Metrology, and Inspection (BSMI) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs currently tests "synthetic laundry detergents" only for pH value, biodegradability, total phosphate content, surfactant equivalent content, nonylphenol ethoxylate surfactant content, and formaldehyde. However, it does not test for pesticides or environmental chemicals in detergents, which must be improved.
Source: http://udn. com/ NEWS/ LIFE/ LIF1/ 8335764. shtml#ixzz2pj1myn1x
"Laundry Detergent Pesticide Residue Exceeds Standards by Hundreds of Times"
Disclosure by Homemakers United Foundation
The Homemakers United Foundation and the News & Market platform pointed out this morning that the ingredient labeling of 35 commercially available laundry detergent brands claiming to be "antibacterial" or "anti-mite" is unclear. Among them, the "Magic Housekeeper Anti-Mite & Anti-Allergy Laundry Detergent" was found to contain the chemical "Permethrin," which is classified as both a pesticide and an environmental chemical. The detected concentrations far exceed the permissible residue limits for pesticides on fruits and vegetables by tens to hundreds of times.
Test results showed that different batches of Magic Housekeeper Anti-Mite & Anti-Allergy Laundry Detergent contained Permethrin levels of 76.3 ppm (parts per million), 37.8 ppm, and 44.6 ppm, respectively. In comparison, the current permissible residue limit for pesticides on general fruits and vegetables is only 0.05 ppm.
Permethrin is commonly used to kill cockroaches.
The Homemakers United Foundation and News & Market randomly purchased 35 laundry detergent products from the market and commissioned the Meiho University Agricultural and Aquatic Product Inspection Service Center to conduct the tests, yielding the above results.
Huang Jialin, Secretary-General of the Homemakers United Foundation, stated that Permethrin is a synthetic pyrethroid insecticide with high fat solubility and is considered an environmental hormone that can interfere with animal uterine functions. When used on general fruits and vegetables, the permissible residue limit is 0.05 ppm. Besides being used as a pesticide, it is also commonly employed as a household environmental chemical to control cockroaches and disease-carrying mosquitoes.
Long-term exposure can harm human health.
Professor Wu Kunyu from the National Taiwan University Department of Public Health explained this morning that Permethrin is a neurotoxin. Contact with the eyes or absorption through the skin can cause harm. Prolonged exposure can damage human health, and the wastewater from laundering with Permethrin-containing detergents can also harm ecosystems. For a 60 kg adult, the safe daily intake of Permethrin is 3 mg. However, when accounting for pesticide residues from fruits and vegetables, environmental pollution, and even exposure from Permethrin-containing laundry detergents, the total intake may exceed safe daily limits.
Wang Wenhao, co-founder of News & Market, noted that ingredient labels on other laundry detergent brands vaguely list terms like "antibacterial agent" or "anti-mite agent" without detailing the specific chemical components. Some brands list Triclosan as an antibacterial agent, which can produce carcinogenic chloroform and dioxins when in contact with tap water—a matter requiring government attention.
Huang Jialin added that the Bureau of Standards, Metrology, and Inspection (BSMI) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs currently tests "synthetic laundry detergents" only for pH value, biodegradability, total phosphate content, surfactant equivalent content, nonylphenol ethoxylate surfactant content, and formaldehyde. However, it does not test for pesticides or environmental chemicals in detergents, which must be improved.
Source: http://udn. com/ NEWS/ LIFE/ LIF1/ 8335764. shtml#ixzz2pj1myn1x