Photo: Nathan Dumlao/Unsplash
One exciting aspect of moving into my current apartment is the presence of a dishwasher who isn’t me. Now that I have this magic machine, I can’t imagine going back to washing everything by hand.
The Problem with Pods
Without thinking too much about it, I used 7th Generation dishwashing pods. I assumed they’d be fine because the company touts plant-based ingredients. (UPDATE: Silly me. It turns out the brand is owned by Unilever.)
But then I read about how those pod encasements may not break down completely. What the heck are they made out of anyway? The film containing the detergent is made out of polyvinyl alcohol, also known as PVA or PVOH. PVA is a synthetic plastic polymer that’s water-soluble and biodegradable. It’s supposed to break down into non-toxic components.
However, a study from Arizona State University found that as much as 75% of PVA from detergent pods pass through conventional water plants untreated, making their way into our waterways and soil. Oh noooo.
A study found that as much as 75% of PVA from detergent pods pass through conventional water plants untreated, making their way into our waterways and soil.
The study was partly funded by Blueland, which makes environmentally-friendlier cleaning products, including their own dishwasher tablets. (UPDATE: I reviewed the Blueland tabs over here.) Blueland is petitioning the Environmental Protection Agency to remove PVA from its Safer Choice and Safer Chemical Ingredients lists until tests prove PVA is safe.
I’m always a little skeptical when a brand helps pay for a study. But also, I’m glad this study exists and is bringing attention to this potential problem. (The study authors, for their part, say that funders had no role in the design of their study or the interpretation of data.)
In any case, why chance it? If pods are questionable and might be contributing to plastic pollution, then I’ll use something else. I did some reading, starting with Going Zero Waste’s post about dishwashing detergent (though it includes pods on its list, including the very 7th Generation pods I’d decided to stop using).
At first I looked for another pod option. But then I realized that I was being seduced by their convenience. I could just stop being lazy and use some old fashioned powder detergent (which takes all of 3 seconds more to use). After scanning ingredients and reading reviews, I decided to try Ecover Dishwasher Powder.
Ingredients
Going Zero Waste compiled a list of ingredients to avoid. These include:
- fragrance
- dyes
- phosphates
- sodium hypochlorite
- polyacrylates (acrylic acid, 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, methacrylic acid)
- benzisothiazolinone
- methylsothiazolinone
Ecover says their dishwasher detergent is phosphate-free, biodegradable, and fish friendly. I looked for it in the Environmental Working Group‘s (EWG) cleaning products database. There, I found a different Ecover dishwasher detergent with a B rating. But the exact one that I bought was not on there.
So then I looked up each ingredient on the label. (EWG’s website is kind of hard to use. I tend to go to this page and search by ingredient or product.) What’s listed below is each ingredient on the label followed by the grade given by EWG.
Ingredients: sodium sulfate (A), sodium carbonate (A), sodium citrate (A), sodium chloride (A), sodium carbonate peroxide (A), sodium silicate (B), magnesium sulfate (A), sodium polyitaconate (C), alcohol alkoxylate (D), sodium metasilicate (F), amylase enzyme blend (B), subtilisin enzyme blend (B), fragrance (D), limonen (C)
Hmmm, there are some ingredients with bad ratings. Alcohol alkoxylate, sodium metasilicate, and fragrance are all concerning for respiratory issues. Other concerns among these ingredients include developmental and reproductive toxicity and skin allergies.
However, those concerning ingredients come further down the list. Because of the Cleaning Products Labeling Act of 2017, ingredients must be listed in descending order of weight. So if it’s further down the list there’s not as much of it. Given that most of the ingredients received an A or B rating, perhaps this product would also receive a B rating if EWG were to analyze it?
How Does Ecover Dishwashing Powder Perform?
Ecover Dishwasher Powder Citrus – $6.29
So far, so good! My dishes come out squeaky clean. (I use the air-dry setting instead of heat-dry, by the way, which is more energy efficient.) I haven’t seen any residue or film. And while the fragrance is apparent when you’re dispensing the powder, the clean dishes themselves do not have any smells.
In fact, I think it cleans better than the pods I was using before. The detergent comes in a simple cardboard box. No plastic. And the price is right too. A 48 ounce box is just $6.29 at Vitacost at the time of this writing. (You can find it on Amazon too, but the price is almost three times as much and I’m trying to avoid Amazon where I can.) There’s also a fragrance-free version. All in all, I’m happy I made the switch.
UPDATE 9/7/24 – A friend of mine uses and likes Biokleen automatic dishwasher powder, which receives a B rating from EWG. One drawback is that it comes in a plastic container. Also, read this ProPublica investigation into the production of chemicals used in America’s most popular cleaning products (like Cascade), that are polluting our air and elevating cancer risks.
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