Simple Green Simply Greenwashing Consumers for Decades
One of the first “green” cleaning products I ever used was Simple Green. I would clean carpets, cars, bathtubs, floors, etc. with this green liquid. I even converted my mother to a Simple Green user. As I became “greener”, I switched to homemade cleaning products and greener labels.
It is only recently that I began to wonder if Simple Green really is as ecologically friendly and safe as the name of this cleaning product implies.
- » See also: The Joy of Green Cleaning by Leslie Reichert
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I examined the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for Simple Green’s All Purpose Cleaner:
Carcinogens: No ingredients are listed by OSHA, IARC, or NTP as known or suspected carcinogens.
The only ingredient of Simple Green with established exposure limits is undiluted 2-butoxyethanol (<4%)
Swallowing; Essentially non-toxic.
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): Cleaner meets CARB & BAAQMD regulations. Cleaner must be diluted 1:1 with water to Meet SCAQMD Rule 1171 & Rule 1122 VOC requirements for solvent cleaning operations.
This material contains 2-Butoxyethanol, < 4%, (CAS# 111-76-2) which is subject to the reporting requirements of Section 313 of SARA Title III and 49 CFR Part 373.
I’m not sure what “essentially non-toxic” means, but it is enough to make Women’s Voices for the Earth (WVE), as reported on Care2, be concerned:
The Dirt on Cleaning Chemical Companies report card about Sunshine Makers Inc./ Simple Green was that their product ingredient disclosure received a D+; their responsiveness to consumer concerns received an F; their toxic chemicals screening process received a D+; the toxic chemicals in their products received a C; the number of cleaning products on the market was 15; and the number of products that contain chemicals of concern were eight. The chemical of biggest concern cited by WVE is 2-butoxyethanol.
2-butoxyethanol is found in many household cleaning products, but without required full disclosure, consumers often don’t they are being exposed to it. At least Simple Green admits it is in their product on the MSDS; however, this chemical is known to cause birth defects, fertility issues, nose and eye irritation, headaches, and vomiting.
2-butoxyethanol is easily absorbed through the skin, which is the leading pathway for exposure. It is not listed on the EPA’s list of hazardous air pollutants, but California and Canada list it as toxic.
According to Wikipedia:
William Nazaroff, a professor of environmental engineering and chairman of the Energy and Resources Group at UC Berkeley, has argued that EGBE should have remained on the federal contaminants list, and concluded in a study that the use of some common household cleaning products containing EGBE could expose people to levels 12 times greater than California’s one-hour guideline, especially when indoor use is considered. These products are not required to list it on the label when diluted to a certain point.
This does not sound like a chemical that belongs in a green cleaner to me. I rarely wear rubber gloves when cleaning, and I certainly don’t want 2-Butoxyethanol entering my body. I would never let my children help me clean with such a chemically ladened product. I feel like I have been simply greenwashed by Simple Green.
Image: Women’s Voices for the Earth (WVE)
How about $3,000,000 of independent testing and 30+ years of use in the consumer and industrial market without long or short term consequences when used daily. Does that count for anything?
I’ve seen Simple Green’s test data, which is what no one seems to want to check out, and the company has over 30 years of use in the workplace, military and households with no long or short term consequnces. The only reason that it has so strongly been dragged into the limelight is because there are other companies that would like the business that Simple Green has spent the last 30 + years establishing.
If people want to stop using a product that has a 30+ year established safety record, and replace that with products that are potentially carcinogenic, and simply have better marketing and dishonest, misleading CEO’s that need to drag other companies through the mud while producing something that doesn’t even live up to thier standards, then so be it. Buy something else. I will continue to use the product that my family has been using for the past 15 years which is Simple Green. None of us has any health issues, we reproduce just fine and all but one of us were honor roll students that have grown to be very healthy and successful adults with childred of our own.
Cerise,
You do bring up a good point - All chemicals are not the same, however I’m not attempting to make this a blanket statement for all chemicals, only 2-butoxyethanol and the concerns around it. Your examples are chemicals that are endocrine disruptors and mimics -a category of behavior that 2-butoxyethanol does not fall underneath.
With Bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates, we are now talking about endocrine disruptors. To keep it simple, the endocrine system detects hormones. Hormones are composed mainly of (but not solely of) benzenes and phenols. Benzene is a six carbon ring with three double bonds. Phenol is a six carbon ring with an attached –OH (alcohol: oxygen & hydrogen) group.
Bisphenol A (BPA), obviously by the name contains a phenol, which means that it can mimic normal hormones once ingested. Phthalates contain a benzene ring. They too mimic normal hormones once ingested. Now there is nothing wrong with benzene’s or phenols in and of themselves, since a normal healthy body will produce these compounds for regular function. Even pure essential oils will have a small amount of phenol components to them, phenols are one type of chemical that gives off a scent. It is the excess that we are exposed to that causes the problems, in particular to fetuses and children who rely more heavily on hormones for normal growth and development.
Lead is a chemical that can mimic calcium. Calcium has many important roles in human body functions and it also the building block of other chemical compounds to help us function normally. So if lead can mimic calcium, it is able to enter those pathways of normal function and thus cause the harm that it does. Lead poisoning doesn’t occur immediately, but comes from the buildup of lead in various soft tissue sites that eventually accumulate to the point of overriding those areas. Sad as it is, most healthy humans have trace amounts of lead in their system that is there but does not interfere with our systems. Continued ingestion or inhalation exposure is what allows it to be built up as we are normally only able to expel around 80% of what was taken in.
Chemicals need to be investigated individually as there are a variety of concerns they can fall underneath, depending on the type of organism as well as the organisms life stage. There is no chemical in the world that is perfectly safe for every living thing at every life stage, there is no perfect chemical. So while my examples and statement was a bit too much of a blanket for everything, it was applicable for 2-butoxyethanol which is not an endocrine disruptor, carcinogen, reproductive toxin nor does it mimic anything utilized within the human body.
All variables being equal – yes, a drop of hydrochloric acid will burn you. A drop from a gallon of water that contains a drop of hydrochloric acid will not. You can just as easily say a drop of acetic acid will burn you, but a drop of vinegar will not. Please continue to utilize vinegar, I’m merely trying to get the scientific concepts across so that the public can make their own educated decisions.
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