Households in the United Kingdom have been issued a warning against buying Fairy washing up liquid to reduce the negative impact on the seas.
Experts have also confirmed that the liquid, which is sold in plastic bottles, can endanger the environment.
According to them, the washing liquid contains surfactants, “wetting agents” that come from fossil fuels, which can harm water bodies whenever households wash up and the sink is drained.
Ethical Superstore also affirms the warning. According to them, “Most conventional washing up liquids contain sodium lauryl sulphate or SLS. This acts as a surfactant, meaning it reduces the surface tension of the water and creates foam, leading to extra cleaning power. But it’s not without its issues.
”SLS doesn’t just dissolve away to nothing when it’s used. After it goes down the plughole, it can end up lingering in our waterways, endangering marine life and doing untold damage to the ecosystem.”
Backing this up is a study in the Journal of Applied Microbiology showing the extent of this damage. The expert stated that “the use of surfactants in households and industries is inevitable and so is their discharge into the environment, especially into the water bodies as effluents. Being surface-active agents, their utilisation is mostly seen in soaps, detergents, personal care products, emulsifiers, wetting agents, etc.
“Surfactants are capable of penetrating the cell membrane and thus cause toxicity to living organisms. Accumulation of these compounds has been known to cause significant gill damage and loss of sight in fish.”
According to The Standard, the alternatives for households in the UK are more environmentally friendly cleaning solutions provided by different companies such as Ecover, Bio-D, Method, and Greenscents.
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