# Dish detergents
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dish-detergents/913117
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [June 26, 2020, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dish-detergents/913117 "2020-06-26T03:51:41Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Oldbutcurious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oldbutcurious)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2020, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dish-detergents/913117/1 "2020-06-26T03:51:41Z")
Do dish detergents contain toxic ingredients?
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### Author:  [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2020, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dish-detergents/913117/2 "2020-06-26T03:58:33Z")
I’m pretty sure it’s a bad idea to injest it. Remember the whole Tide Pod fiasco? Though that was laundry detergent, which I’d imagine is more concentrated the dish detergent. But I’m no expert.
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### Author:  [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2020, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dish-detergents/913117/3 "2020-06-26T05:00:51Z")
Yes. They do. Saponification requires chemicals. Some detergents have more than others.
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### Author:  [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2020, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dish-detergents/913117/4 "2020-06-26T06:10:41Z")
Dawn ingredients - Ingredients
Alcohol Denatured, C10-16 Alkyldimethylamine Oxide, Colorants, Fragrances, Methylisothiazolinone, PEI-14 PEG-24/PPG-16 Copolymer, Phenoxyethanol, PPG-26, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Water, C9-11 Pareth-8
Without going to a wall of text - some references
> **[Active Ingredients in Dishwashing Detergent | Hunker](https://www.hunker.com/13420995/active-ingredients-in-dish-washing-detergent)**
>
> It's crucial to be aware of what ingredients are in your dish soap, especially when it comes to the active components of soap and detergent. Keep reading to find out what you need to know.
> **[Dish Soap & Dishwasher Detergent | Palmolive®](https://www.palmolive.com/en-us)**
>
> Whether it's for your greasy messes or oven-baked dishes, there's a Palmolive® dish soap for you that's made to be tough on grease, and gentle on the planet.
Two cites from the scary end-
> **[Home](https://www.treehugger.com/home-4846063)**
>
> Learn how to make your home green to save money, conserve resources, live healthier, and have a lighter impact on the planet.
> **[8 Toxic Chemicals in Conventional Dish Soap](https://insteading.com/blog/8-toxic-chemicals-conventional-dish-soap/)**
>
> Choosing organic produce is important, but so is making sure that the dishes you use to cook and eat aren't washed in toxic chemicals.
If you want to make your own or more natural -
[https://tinyurl.com/ycdsh4ly](https://tinyurl.com/ycdsh4ly)
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### Author:  [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2020, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dish-detergents/913117/5 "2020-06-26T08:09:00Z")
If you’re worried use very little and rinse very well.
Dishwasher detergent is even worse than liquid dish soap. That crap will kill you dead! 😰
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### Author:  [@Oldbutcurious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oldbutcurious)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2020, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dish-detergents/913117/6 "2020-06-26T12:21:44Z")
I am only asking because someone on the Quora Q&A website said it was not advisable to wash vegetables with dish washing ( **not** dishwasher) detergent,as it contained toxic ingredients that would be absorbed by the vegetable. I have no qualms about using it for general cleaning.
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### Author:  [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2020, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dish-detergents/913117/7 "2020-06-26T12:35:38Z")
As a Chemical Engineer, I’ve seen the rise of not trusting Science when it comes to chemicals or household products. This is the same as not trusting Science when it comes to Climate change. You **cannot have it both ways**. Both are Science deniers.
For toxicity of any product, you can lookup the MSDS - the Material Safety Data Sheet. This is the method agreed by all scientists to identify health and other hazards associated with almost all products. Scientists have put a lot of effort into developing these lists, so before you put your faith in some website called treehugger, I urge you to reconsider.
Here is the MSDS for Dawn dish detergent [http://sds.chemtel.net/webclients/cheneybrothers/540015SDS.pdf](http://sds.chemtel.net/webclients/cheneybrothers/540015SDS.pdf)
Here is the toxicological information -
Product Information
Information on likely routes of exposure
Inhalation No known effect.
Skin contact No known effect.
Ingestion No known effect.
Eye contact Irritating to eyes.
Delayed and immediate effects as well as chronic effects from short and long-term exposure
Acute toxicity No known effect.
Skin corrosion/irritation No known effect.
Serious eye damage/eye irritation Irritating to eyes.
Skin sensitization No known effect.
Respiratory sensitization No known effect.
Germ cell mutagenicity No known effect.
Neurological Effects No known effect.
Reproductive toxicity No known effect.
Developmental toxicity No known effect.
Teratogenicity No known effect.
STOT - single exposure No known effect.
STOT - repeated exposure No known effect.
Target Organ Effects No known effect.
Aspiration hazard No known effect.
Carcinogenicity No known effect.
For Chemicals → Poly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl), alpha-sulfo-omega-hydroxy-, C10-16-alkyl ethers, sodium salts, the LD50 listed is \>2001 mg/kg. For an average American male (191lb /87 kg ) and American female (159 lb / 72 kg) this works out to 174,000 mg and 144,000 mg.
In simple terms, if 100 American males were to drink greater than 6 oz (174,000 mg), about half of them have a chance of dying. For females the number is 5 oz.
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### Author:  [@GMANCANADA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GMANCANADA)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2020, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dish-detergents/913117/8 "2020-06-26T13:15:47Z")
@am77494
Thank you for a **much needed** voice of sanity and reason on this message board.
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### Author:  [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2020, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dish-detergents/913117/9 "2020-06-26T14:00:34Z")
Dawn dish detergent (the blue kind) is the standard treatment for de-oiling sea birds and mammals caught in an oil spill. They probably wouldn’t use it if it was toxic.
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### Author:  [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2020, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dish-detergents/913117/10 "2020-06-26T14:08:27Z")
I think they use Dawn specifically because it’s safer than some of the others. So I’d presume that it varies by product.
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### Author:  [@ThisIsTheEnd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisIsTheEnd)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2020, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dish-detergents/913117/11 "2020-06-26T14:10:36Z")
I can’t imagine how raw vegetables could absorb enough dishwashing detergent during washing to do you any harm.
I wash vegs like tomatoes, peppers, etc. when I get home. I wash my hands with Ivory soap, rinse, then soap them up again and basically give the vegs a soapy fondle all around, then rinse 'em off.
Give supermarket cucumbers a little extra time, they’re coated with wax, it’s gross.
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### Author:  [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2020, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dish-detergents/913117/12 "2020-06-26T16:51:21Z")
> [@am77494](#):
>
> As a Chemical Engineer … you can lookup the MSDS - the Material Safety Data Sheet.
My chemical engineer cousin-in-law keeps correcting me whenever I don’t use the modern “SDS” term.
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### Author:  [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2020, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dish-detergents/913117/13 "2020-06-26T17:24:27Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#):
>
> Yes. They do. Saponification requires chemicals.
So does breathing.
And saponified fats are soaps. IIRC the most common household detergents are alkylbenzene sulfonates.
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### Author:  [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2020, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dish-detergents/913117/14 "2020-06-26T19:02:14Z")
^^^Well, yeah.
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### Author:  [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2020, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dish-detergents/913117/15 "2020-06-27T07:14:44Z")
And if you want to be really gross, under many conditions, human bodies saponify as they decompose. Don’t use it (\*sometimes called ‘grave wax’) to wash your dishes or vegetables.
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### Author:  [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2020, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dish-detergents/913117/16 "2020-06-27T08:18:57Z")
Ewwwww😲
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### Author:  [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2020, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dish-detergents/913117/17 "2020-06-27T09:03:00Z")
Food is made of chemicals. 😱 So is water and even air. We are clearly doomed.
Remember the adage. _The dose makes the poison_. Or more completely: “All things are poison, and nothing is without poison; the dosage alone makes it so a thing is not a poison.”
Older types of dishwasher detergents were known for being dangerously alkaline. Great way to clean off fats. Not so good in raw concentrated powder form if eaten. So don’t eat the raw powder.
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### Author:  [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2020, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dish-detergents/913117/18 "2020-06-27T16:57:20Z")
> [@Oldbutcurious](#):
>
> I am only asking because someone on the Quora Q&A website said it was not advisable to wash vegetables with dish washing ( **not** dishwasher) detergent,as it contained toxic ingredients that would be absorbed by the vegetable. I have no qualms about using it for general cleaning
I would never wash produce with any product that contains an added scent in the first place. I’m sure I’d be able to detect it in the produce even after rinsing.
I’ve read where using a dilute vinegar solution is an option.
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### Author:  [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2020, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dish-detergents/913117/19 "2020-06-27T18:48:27Z")
> [@Francis\_Vaughan](#):
>
> Not so good in raw concentrated powder form if eaten. So don’t eat the raw powder.
Right. Mix it in with your coffee first.
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### Author:  [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2020, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dish-detergents/913117/20 "2020-06-28T19:32:16Z")
Um, “no known effect” doesn’t mean what you think it does.
I also don’t see how being a “Chemical Engineer” indicates any expertise in toxicology, even if you capitalize it. Some chemical engineers work with OSHA Process Safety Management (PHAs/LOPAs/HAZOPs/HAZIDs/HAZWOPERs), but these all involve evaluation of chemical processes, not of the toxicology of the substances themselves.
Also MSDSs are no longer in use as of 2015.
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