I have been using Seventh Generation Dish Soap for awhile in my effort to minimize using my dishwasher. I have really enjoyed it’s sudsy qualities and ability to clean my dishes. However, I found out today that Seventh Generation does contain Sodium Laureth Sulfate. SLS is a foaming agent found in just about all conventional body products from toothpaste, to shampoo, to detergents, to soap, even some of the natural brands.
Sodium Laureth Sulfate is a known irritant, but this is not really what concerns me. What does concern me is that SLS mimics estrogen in the body. SLS, along with many other chemicals that mimic estrogen in the body, come to mind when I hear about the rise of breast cancer, uterine cancer, endometriosis, males developing breasts and breast cancer, young children developing puberty early, etc. I was diagnosed with endometriosis several years ago, and my mother and aunt had breast cancer, so I take this seriously.
What scares me the most is that even someone like me, who is somewhat educated on natural products and harmful chemicals, can make the mistake of trusting a brand name natural product without fully investigating the ingredients.
I do applaud Seventh Generation for actually putting all of it’s ingredients on the label, which most companies avoid. I think I will just use Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap for everything in my house!
Update: A reader pointed out that Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds also have SLS in them, but the Castile Soap does not.
I read somewhere that if you don’t wash your dishes before putting them in the dishwasher you actually use less water by running the dishwasher full rather than washing all your dishes by hand. That made my day to read that.
BTW, Dr. Bronner’s is the best cleaning agent on the market as far as we’re concerned.
Thanks for sharing! I have read this too, and have also read the opposite. I guess there is not much difference. The main reason I’ve been doing it by hand is that I have yet to find a natural dish detergent that works well, and even when I use a conventional detergent, my dishes aren’t all the way clean. I end up scrubbing them (using lots of water) before I put them in the dishwasher. Then I’m using twice the water!
Dr. Bronner’s rocks. A reader pointed out yesterday that the Sal Suds do contain SLS, but I checked, and the castile soaps do not. I think my solution is to just use gloves with products with SLS, and use castile soap for anything else I can!
Thanks for pointing this out! I have it under my sink and after reading your post checked and was a bit bummed. Thanks for making me more aware