Do You Know What’s in Your Detergent? Activists Sue to Find Out

Environmental groups will sue Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive, and two other chemical cleaner manufacturers later today to demand that they release the ingredients to their products.

Attorneys from EarthJustice will file the suit on behalf the Sierra Club and American Lung Association and four other groups. The lawsuit will be filed in New York to take advantage of a seldom-used 1976 law against using phosphates in soaps.

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The groups requested ingredient disclosure from the four companies and many others last September, citing the New York law, but these four refused to comply. On the other hand, Method Based and Seventh Generation, both companies that specialize in non-polluting cleansers, obliged the request and disclosed their ingredients.

The activists contend that some chemicals in detergents may cause asthma and skin problems for humans, and some may affect fish and marine mammal health. In the end, however, it comes down to the fact that people deserve to at least know what is inside the product they are buying.

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