13 June 2006
WaterSense House Doctors uncover hidden chemicals in the home
An audit of households, undertaken by the WaterSense campaign (1), in
some of Scotland's main cities, reveals that a mix of damaging chemicals
is unwittingly being washed down our drains every day.
Householders from Glasgow, Aberdeen Edinburgh and Inverness agreed to open up their cupboards and garden sheds to allow the WaterSense House Doctors to scrutinise the ingredients in domestic cleaning and personal care products. Some of the manmade chemicals frequently identified in the audits, such as artificial musks, have been proved to be harmful to aquatic wildlife and are not easily destroyed in the environment so they can stay around for a long time.
"Often, individual chemicals may not be particularly troublesome. But these chemicals are never present in the environment on their own and when mixed together they can be extremely harmful to freshwater and marine life. The worst offenders kept turning up time and time again in this audit," said Dr Richard Dixon, Director of WWF Scotland.
The main findings from the House Doctors included:
• Poor labelling and lack of consumer information. The House Doctors uncovered an astonishing number of products where the chemical ingredients were not listed. In one household in Aberdeen, 14 out of the 32 products found had no ingredients listed. The Doctors uncovered products with no ingredient labelling in every household.
• Large numbers of products containing artificial perfumes. Almost half (48%) of products found by the House Doctors – including items such as mouthwash and baby cradle cap treatment – contained artificial perfumes. In one Edinburgh household a staggering 73% of all products contained artificial perfumes. Many of these manmade perfumes are likely to be artificial musks, some of which can build up in the bodies of wildlife and are implicated in developmental problems in aquatic wildlife.
Artificial musks are not listed on products as they are constituents of the fragrance, referred to only by the term “parfum” or “fragrance”, so there is no way of knowing whether a product contains artificial musks. Unless the label says something like “naturally fragranced” or “scented with natural oils”, it is more than likely perfumed with an artificial musk.
• Overuse of antibacterial ingredients. As with antibiotics, there are concerns that the widespread use of antibacterials may promote bacterial resistance. Householders were surprised to find an antibacterial chemical called triclosan in their toothpaste and other personal care products. 5 of the 8 households tested were unwittingly using products containing triclosan, which is already partially banned in Sweden and is facing a total ban in Norway.
• Banned products and products listed under EU Dangerous Substances Directive. Two pesticides plus an agricultural growth inhibiter were found lurking in garden sheds causing the House Doctors major concern. These have subsequently been safely disposed of.
Members of the eight families that took part in the audit were shocked to find they were washing chemicals in products such as shampoo, deodorant and toothpaste down their drains and could be affecting wildlife in their local rivers and estuaries.
"Before this audit I thought the majority of cleaning fluids that went down the drains would just mix with the water and dilute away," admitted David, one of the Inverness volunteers.
"We buy a huge variety of cleaning products nowadays and most of them are unnecessary," commented Miranda Jacques-Turner, WaterSense Campaign Co-ordinator. "You can keep your kitchen or bathroom just as clean by buying eco-friendly products containing plant based ingredients, or by using old-fashioned cleaning ingredients such as white vinegar and bicarbonate of soda.”(2)
Top 5 Tips for Wildlife-Friendly Cleaning
1. Make your own cleaners – it’s easier than you might think.
Some cheap and basic ingredients can be combined to make powerful cleaners
that won’t hang around in the environment. South Ayrshire Council
have a good alternative cleaning guide at:
http://www.south-ayrshire.gov.uk/environment/greening_alternative.htm
2. Switch to eco-friendly – for personal care products and toiletries, making your own is more complex; but there are plenty of environment-friendly products out there. Remember to check the small print to make sure it really is natural ingredients and not marketing hype. The WaterSense website has lots of links to help you track down suitable products: http://watersense.org.uk/chemicals/links/shopping.php
3. Use less – for those jobs you cannot find a suitable alternative product for, just cut back on the products you already use: Nearly all of Scotland has soft water, so the minimum amounts of cleaners are needed to get good results. Lather is the ‘spare’ detergent that’s not being used to clean, so if you get lather the first time there’s no need to shampoo your hair twice, and if you see suds in the washing machine use less detergent next time. Don’t be tempted to put toothpaste along the length of the toothbrush – just a pea-size amount is enough.
4. Dispose responsibly – whatever you use, make sure it only goes down the drain or plughole if it’s meant to. Oils and fats, paints and solvents, pesticides and fertilisers, they all cause problems for wildlife if they get into the water system. The WaterSense website has useful links to put you in touch with your Local Authority, nearest paint recycling scheme or oil bank: http://watersense.org.uk/chemicals/links/index.php
5. Check your shed – make sure you’re not harbouring any out-of-date or recently banned chemicals. The Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD) has useful advice on their website about which chemicals are banned: http://www.pesticides.gov.uk/approvals.asp?id=996 and how to dispose of them safely: http://www.pesticides.gov.uk/safe_use.asp?id=1551
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Editor’s notes:
(1) WaterSense is a partnership between WWF, the Scottish Executive, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and Scottish Water. For more information visit the WaterSense website at http|://www.watersense.org.uk
(2) For information on how to make up your own green cleaning products at a fraction of the price of buying them visit: http://www.south-ayrshire.gov.uk/environment/greening_alternative.htm
For further information, please contact:
Nicola Golding, t: 01350 728200, m: 07771 818 683, e: ngolding@wwfscotland.org
Miranda Jacques-Turner, t: 01383 848387, m: 07875 878273, e: info@watersense.org.uk
For further information please contact WWF Scotland: phone 01350 728200, email info@watersense.org.uk, or write to WaterSense, c/o WWF Scotland, Little Dunkeld, Dunkeld, PH8 0AD