Are eco-labeled

detergents really
less toxic than
conventional
detergents?
Samantha Vasquez, Salome Cruz y Catalina Ayala
8A
 Problem

 Detergents are materials which help on the removal

of dirt and other substances from a contaminated
material, in most cases clothes. They are mostly
diluted in water before usage, therefore when the
material is no longer in usage, it gets flushed away.
The contaminated water often goes to a water
treatment plant in most cities before being thrown
back into a river or the ocean. But water does not
always get cleaned up before getting back into a
body of water, it can go back to the wild and cause
damages to the environment, mostly plants, because
of the harmful substances it contains, mainly
affecting its growth. One way this can be avoided is
to use Eco-labeled detergents that have less toxic
material that can affect the environment, but some
brands use this eco-label and marketing or
propaganda to make its consumers blindly buy into
the idea that they are consuming a product that has
no negative effect on plants and water. This project is
made to proof or disproof this idea.
Hypothesis
 If we expose two plants with different water-mixed substances,
one with normal detergent and other with eco-labeled detergent,
then the water that has the eco-labeled detergent will be less
harmful to the plant because for a detergent to be eco-labeled it
needs to go through a series of regulations that do not allow any
substances that are toxic or non-biodegradable, such as
Phosphate-containing compounds, Toxic heavy metals and their
chemical compounds, Phthalates, Chelating agent EDTA, and
additives like perfumes, color and brightening agents that are
usually present in normal detergents; these chemicals affect plants
greatly, especially in photosynthetic activity in plants since
chlorophyll is sensitive to said chemicals and other detergent
ingredients.
 Materials

 Water (20ml per plant)

 Detergente Ecológico | BIOGAR (20ml
per plant)
 Detergente top terra liquido ecologico
(20ml per plant)
 Detergente Liquido Fab (20ml per
plant)
 12 Plastic cups
 12 garden pansies
 A place that recieves 6-8 hours of
sunlight
 Ruler
Procedure
 1. Place the 3 Garden Pansies per trial (make three trials) in a sunny place, where they
can get 6-7 hours of sunlight.
 2. Make three different mixtures; one with 20ml of water and 20ml of BIOGAR
(Solution 1), another on with 20ml of water and 20ml of Topterra (Solution 2), and the
final one of 20ml of water and 20ml of Fab (Solution 3)
 3.Take notes of the state of the 3 plants, color, height, number of the petals, etc.
 4.¨Water¨ the plants with the mixutures, each plant has a different mixture, three times
a week for 5 days.
 5. Make a control group that is being watered with 40ml of water three times a week for
3 weeks under the excact same circumstances.
 6. Take notes for the state of the plants and compare them with the control group once
the 5days are over.
 7. Identify the plant that is most similar to the control plant, in terms of height, color,
and overall witherness. Also how fast each plant withered.
 8. Collect, Analyze and Interpret data.
Data
Day 1

Height of the pansies

Type of detergent Trials Average Height
T1 T2 T3
Fab 12cm 8cm 14cm 14.3cm
Top-Terra 11cm 17cm 14.5cm 11.3cm
ECO 10cm 14.3cm 14.5cm 14.16cm
No detergent (control) 14cm 16cm 13cm 12.93cm
Day 2

Height of the pansies

Type of detergent Trials Average Height
T1 T2 T3
Fab 9,3m 10,5cm 12,5cm 10,76cm
Top-Terra 9cm 12,4cm 13,1cm 11.5cm
ECO 8cm 19cm 10,5cm 12,5cm
No detergent
(control) 15cm 16cm 14,5cm 15,6cm
Day 3

Height of the pansies

Type of detergent Trials Average Height
T1 T2 T3
Fab 9cm 8,5cm 8,5cm 8,6cm
Top-Terra 8cm 15cm 8cm 10,33cm
ECO 9,5cm 19cm 10cm 12,83cm
No detergent
(control) 16cm 14,5cm 14cm 14,83cm
Day 4

Height of the pansies

Type of detergent Trials Average Height
T1 T2 T3
Fab 8,1cm 4,6cm 8cm 6,9cm
Top-Terra 7,5cm 9,8cm 6cm 7,67cm
ECO 9,3cm 18,6cm 9,5cm 12,47cm
No detergent
(control) 16,7cm 14,5cm 13cm 14,73cm
Day 5

Height of the pansies

Type of detergent Trials Average Height
T1 T2 T3
Fab 7,5cm 4,5cm 8cm 6,66cm
Top-Terra 6cm 6cm 5,5cm 5,83cm
ECO 9,5cm 18,9cm 8,5cm 12,3cm
No detergent
(control) 16,4cm 14cm 13cm 10,17cm
 Average Control
18

16

14

12

10

0
Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5
 Average FAB
12

10

0
Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5
 Average Top Terra
16

14

12

10

0
Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5
 Average ECO
13

12.9

12.8

12.7

12.6

12.5

12.4

12.3

12.2

12.1

12

11.9
Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5
Conclusion
 Based on collected data and visual observation on
the pansies so far, it is safe to conclude that the
detergent Top Terra is, in fact, not better tan the
average detergent. Based on data is worst than a
conventional detergent such as FAB; it made the
plants wither faster and, compared to the control,
the color of this set of plants that were exposed to
Top Terra is washed out and the height was
affected as well.
 When checking the main ingredients on the data
on the Top Terra container, it had many ingredients
that contribute to its harmful effect on the
environment, such as perfume and optical
brightening agents, both of which does affect
badly on the growth on plants and addressed on the
hypothesis. Thought the detergent does have non
toxic materials such and enzymes and its lack of
phosphatases, it is still not enough to avoid the
rapid withering of plants it caused.
Sources
 Counting the cost of cleanliness. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://toxicslink.org/docs/06031_Detergent_Factheet_English.pdf
 Y., & D. (1941, March 13). THE EFFECT OF DETERGENTS ON THE
CHLOROPHYLLPROTEIN COMPOUND OF SPINACH AS STUDIED IN THE
ULTRACENTRIFUGE. Retrieved February 6, 2019, from
http://jgp.rupress.org/content/jgp/24/6/753.full.pdf
 Guidelines for ecological detergents and other cleaning agents. (2016, January
21). Retrieved February 5, 2019, from https://n-
bnn.de/sites/default/dateien/bilder/Downloads/160203_Guidlines%20for%20ecolo
gical%20detergents.pdf
 Harrington, J. (2016, October 07). Potted Pansy Care. Retrieved from
https://homeguides.sfgate.com/potted-pansy-care-61354.html
 Ehilen, Oseghale & Obadoni, Bernard & Imade, Francis & D, Eseigbe & J.K,
Mensah. (2017). The Effect of Detergents on the Germination and Growth of
Amaranthus hybridus L. and Solanum lycopersicon L. Nigerian annals of Natural
Sciences. 16. 100-108. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319183950_The_Effect_of_Detergents_
on_the_Germination_and_Growth_of_Amaranthus_hybridus_L_and_Solanum_lycop
ersicon_L