Is the EU Ecolabel DID List a Useful Environmental Evaluation Tool for Detergent-like Consumer Products?

Abstract

For comparing the environmental relevance of household and personal care products, the Critical Dilution Volume (CDV) originally developed for the EU Ecolabel of detergents is an often used key criterion. The EU Ecolabel Detergents Ingredient Database (DID) is a publicly available information basis for derivation of product CDV by providing data on key descriptors for the environmental fate and effects of chemical substances used in consumer products. The alterations of the CDV-relevant descriptors in the revised DID list (2004) have led, in many cases, to an unrealistic depiction of the environmental behaviour of product ingredients and to inadequate product evaluations. The paper reports on the framework of and the experiences with a novel DID list developed by an expert group of the German Hauptausschuss Detergentien (HAD) enabling an environmentally more realistic comparison of products.

Ecotoxicity impact assessment of laundry products: a comparison of USEtox and critical dilution volume approaches

“…However, the simplicity of the approach also becomes one of its main drawbacks, as listed in Table 5. This leads to proportional high contributions from inorganic materials because of simplistic fate models or assumptions and from perfumes, preservatives, optical brighteners and dyes (conservative safety factors for extrapolating acute to chronic toxicity (Nitschke et al 2007)). Using total removal (instead of biodegradation only) in the fate model of CDV makes the CDV approach more relevant and consistent with USEtox, whilst keeping its benefit of simplicity.…”

“…To comply with the EU Eco-label requirements, the CDVof a product must not exceed an arbitrarily defined maximum value, and therefore uses an additive approach of ecotoxicity (Eskeland and Svanes 2004). This type of CDV calculation based on a defined functional unit can be applied more widely to provide a simple screening level tool for comparative product evaluations (Nitschke et al 2007). For example, the Stiftung Warentest, a German consumer organization, compares detergents by use of the CDV approach.…”

Correlations between the Type of Aggregates in the Bulk Phase and the Functionality and Safety of All-Purpose Cleaners

“…Developmental trends in household chemistry indicate a growing interest in formulations based on natural raw materials [ 5 , 6 , 7 ]. This can be explained in terms of the growing environmental awareness of consumers [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ] and various aspects of safety of use [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ]. As the result, the market is offering an increasing number of products which are entirely based on natural raw materials or have some content of natural additives, such as fragrance compositions [ 18 , 19 , 20 ].…”