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The primary function of general purpose cleaners is to remove soils from hard surfaces. Millions of kilograms of general purpose cleaners are consumed in Australia each year. This represents a potentially significant burden on the environment in terms of wastewater loading and subsequent treatment, emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC's), resource consumption and disposal of packaging materials.
The major active components in general purpose cleaners are surfactants, builders, solvents and scouring abrasives. Components, such as surfactants, may accumulate and may be toxic or otherwise harmful in the environment. Surfactants (cleaning agents) provide a significant load on sewage systems and have the potential to bio-accumulate in plant and animal tissue. Builders - typically phosphate and nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) - serve to overcome water hardness and improve surfactant performance. Phosphate is a major nutrient to aquatic plants, and is believed to be a key contributor to excessive plant growth and algal blooms which causes eutrophication (oxygen starvation), particularly in inland waterways. In Australian waters, the contribution of phosphate from agricultural and forested land usually outweighs that from sewage however for local area waste water management systems phosphate free detergents can reduce the risk of localised eutrophication. NTA may assist the movement of heavy metals in aquatic environments, while VOC's in solvents can react with nitrogen oxide and sunlight, and result in ground-level ozone and photochemical smog.
Fortunately, environmentally preferable general purpose cleaners are available. These products are characterised by their biodegradability, being free of carcinogens and hazardous substances (EDTA's, NTA, APEO's etc), very low levels of or no phosphorous, being VOC free or having a maximum of 10% VOC's by weight, containing EU approved fragrances and colourants, supplied in recyclable and non-hazardous packaging, and accompanied with information regarding the best-use guidelines of the cleaner and its environmental performance attributes.
For specific information view our Environmental Standard for General Purpose Cleaners: www.geca.org.au/standardsregister.htm
