Executive Summary
Human Health
Alcohol ethoxysulphates (AES) are a widely used class of anionic surfactants. They are used in household cleaning products, personal care products, institutional cleaners and industrial cleaning processes, and as industrial process aids in emulsion polymerisation and as additives during plastics and paint production. Uses in household cleaning products, the scope of HERA, include laundry detergents, hand dishwashing liquids, and various hard surface cleaners.
Through its presence in many commonly used household detergents, consumers are exposed to AES mainly via the dermal route, but to some extent also via the oral and the inhalatory route. Skin exposure occurs mainly in hand-washed laundry, laundry pre-treatment and hand dishwashing and to a minor extent also through AES residues in the fabric after the washing cycle and skin contact during hard surface cleaning tasks.
Oral exposure occurs mainly through residues deposited on eating utensils and dishes after hand dishwashing. AES are of low acute toxicity. Neat AES are irritant to skin and eyes. The irritation potential of AES containing solutions depends on concentration. Local dermal effects due to direct or indirect skin contact with AES containing solutions in hand-washed laundry or hand dishwashing are not of concern because AES is not a contact sensitizer and AES is not expected to be irritating to the skin at in-use concentrations. The available repeated dose toxicity data demonstrate the low toxicity of AES. Also, they are not considered to be mutagenic, genotoxic or carcinogenic, and are not reproductive or developmental toxicants. The consumer aggregate exposure from direct and indirect skin contact as well as from the oral route via dishware residues results in an estimated total body burden of 29 µg/kg bw/day.
The comparison of the aggregate exposure and the systemic NOAEL results in a margin of exposure (MOE) of 2586. This is a very large margin of exposure, large enough to account for the inherent uncertainty and variability of the hazard database and inter and intra-species extrapolations, which are usually considered by a factor of 100 or greater.
In summary, the human health risk assessment has demonstrated that the use of AES in household laundry and cleaning detergents is safe and does not cause concern with regard to consumer use.
Environment
Alcohol ethoxysulphates (AES) are a widely used class of anionic surfactants. They are used in household cleaning products, personal care products, institutional cleaners and industrial cleaning processes, and as industrial process aids in emulsion polymerisation and as additives during plastics and paint production. Uses in household cleaning products, the scope of HERA, include laundry detergents, hand dishwashing liquids, and various hard surface cleaners.
The total volume of AES surfactants used in Europe is estimated to be 276,000 tonnes/year on an active matter basis of which 108,000 tonnes/year is used in household detergents and cleaning products (CESIO, 2000).
A large environmental data set is available for AES. On the environmental fate side, this includes standard biodegradation studies, advanced simulation studies of removal in treatment systems, and field monitoring data. On the environmental effects side, acute as well as chronic single-species data are available, as well as advanced studies in micro- and mesocosm systems.
To determine the Predicted Environmental Concentration (PEC), chemical removal in wastewater treatment plants was determined from advanced simulation test data. Monitoring studies on sewage treatment plant effluents indicate that the exposure estimates in this assessment are likely to be conservative.
The Predicted No-Effect Concentration (PNEC) was based on chronic ecotoxicity data. Mesocosm studies suggest that the effects assessment based on laboratory studies is also conservative.
By means of these higher tier exposure and effects data, it could be shown that the use of AES in HERA applications (household detergents and cleaning products) results in risk characterization ratios less than one, indicating no concern, for all environmental compartments.
An additional exposure scenario was included in this risk assessment, by assuming the entire AES tonnage used in Europe is disposed of down the drain. Using the same exposure and effects assessment approach, the absence of environmental concerns can also be demonstrated for this total tonnage.