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Jul 224 min read

The hidden plastic in plastic-free dish and laundry detergents


Picture of a detergent pod

Pods are plastic. Image source: Pete via Creative Commons


I stopped buying plastic jugs of detergent a few years back and instead switched to laundry sheets and dishwasher pods that came in plastic-free, recyclable cardboard and metal packaging. Zero-waste goal achieved! Unfortunately, I was more focused on the packaging than the product itself. I recently learned that laundry sheets, laundry pods, and dishwasher pods typically contain polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), a water-soluble synthetic plastic polymer that isn't quite as eco-friendly as it's made out to be. (I've provided better options at the end of this article.)


PVA (also abbreviated as PVOH and PVAI) seems harmless enough. It's widely used in the textile and paper industries, and in the pharmaceutical industry, it's used as a coating on tablets. It's used in food packaging, paints, and adhesives. It's viewed as a safe and non-toxic ingredient, and it's considered to be biodegradable. The US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) includes PVA on the Safer Chemical Ingredients List. PVA isn't on Canada's Toxic Substances List, and it isn't listed as a hazardous chemical in the European Chemicals Agency database. The Environmental Working Group has no data on PVA in its database.


The truth is that PVA hasn't been well studied, but it's been studied well enough to raise concerns.


The problem with PVA

Like any other form of plastic, PVA has the potential to create microplastics that harm the environment and our health, and studies indicate that the issues inherent to microplastics also apply to these water-soluble synthetic polymers. Concerning since it's estimated that 14 thousand metric tons of PVA microplastics enter the environment each year in the US alone.


Technically, PVA is biodegradable, and it certainly appears to degrade during a wash cycle. But the resulting wastewater contains invisible microplastic particles that fully degrade only under very specific conditions. These conditions aren't present in the natural environment and aren't met by most wastewater treatment plants.


In water, microplastics act like magnets for toxic chemicals, heavy metals, antibiotics, and other hazardous contaminants that are abundant at wastewater treatment plants. As microplastics persist in the environment, they continue to attract contaminants and can become up to a million times more toxic than the surrounding water. The concentration of these toxic microplastics will continue to increase over time: in the environment, in the food chain, and in our bodies. No one knows what the long-term effects will be.


PVA presence in the environment...is a threat to the ecosystem due to the potential mobilization of heavy metals and other hydrophilic contaminants. — Charles Rolsky, Global Director of Science for Plastic Oceans International

It's not just microplastics. The foaming properties of water-soluble synthetic polymers pose another issue. When PVA is dumped into bodies of water, the resulting foam can cause low oxygen levels in the water, harming aquatic life.


Brighter brights and whiter whites are a problem, too

Conventional detergents—both liquids and powders—are made with toxic engineered chemicals that also don't biodegrade. These chemicals include optical brighteners, which are fluorescent dyes designed to leave a film on clothing that gives the illusion of brighter colors and whites under UV light. Other chemicals are designed to coat fabrics to make them softer and reduce static cling. Heavy fragrances mask the smell of bacteria that becomes trapped in these coatings. Our skin—the largest organ of the human body—is continually exposed to these chemicals: They coat the towel we use after a morning shower, the clothes we wear throughout the day, and the bedding we nestle in to sleep. Similarly, these chemicals leave a film on our dishware that leaches into foods and beverages, particularly those that are hot and acidic, like a cup of coffee.


Plastic-free dish and laundry detergents from Blueland

Truly plastic-free laundry and dish detergents from Blueland. Image source: Blueland website


Better options for a cleaner clean

After shopping around for replacements, I've settled on Blueland dry-form tablets for both laundry and dishes. Tablets are an effective, affordable, convenient, zero-waste alternative to plastic jugs of detergent. Because they're concentrated and contain no water, they use fewer resources and have a much smaller carbon footprint than traditional liquid detergents. They take up very little space and are lightweight, making them great for travel. And of course, there’s no big plastic jug that will inevitably end up in a landfill. Here in the US, a sickening one billion of these jugs are discarded each year.


  • 100% plastic-free

  • Recyclable and compostable packaging with paper-based tape and water-based inks

  • Lightweight and easy to store

  • Works in all machines, including HE (High Efficiency)

  • Plant- and mineral-based ingredients

  • No dyes, fragrances, parabens, phthalates, VOCs, chlorine, ammonia, bleach, or other harmful ingredients

  • Certifications: 2023 Safer Choice US EPA Partner of the Year, Leaping Bunny, CradleToCradle, Climate Neutral, B Corp

  • MSRP:

    • Laundry tablets: $21 for 60 tablets ($0.35 per load)

    • Oxi Laundry Booster powder: $12 ($0.48 per load)

    • Dishwasher tablets: $21 for 60 tablets ($0.35 per load)


Other plastic-free, PVA-free options

I've rounded up a few other options to consider, although I've not personally tried these products. If you have a local refill store, check out their offerings, too.


Laundry


Dishes


Sources

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