Palmolive’s Pure & Clear: Not so Pure and Clear  Sodium Dodecylbenzene Sulfonate is here to hurt youMy urge for a healthier home has resulted in a continued interest to check out what I was buying, right down to the molecules. Time-consuming, but worth it. And also difficult to understand sometimes. Chemicals often have multiple names, which “Big Brands” seem to use to their advantage to hide what they are actually using behind a curtain of scientific gibberish.As promised, Palmolive’s Pure & Clear dish washing detergent is still under my investigation. I looked up the 3rd ingredient, Sodium Dodecylbenzene Sulfonate to determine if it’s toxic or not. With a name that hard to pronounce, I didn’t think it had a chance. Turns out, it’s not as bad as it sounds. It’s only a minor irritant. This time the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services provided the necessary information. Why companies are allowed to use these substances at all is beyond me, no matter how “minor” they are. Rather than bore you with the entire PDF detailing how this chemical, I just captured a screen shot of the minor effects this chemical can cause:

Hazard Summary of Sodium Dodecylbenzene Sulfonate
I’m still confused why a company would use a known irritant in a personal care product and call it “Pure & Clear,” but hey, considering my report on the 2nd ingredient in this product, I’m not too shocked. If anyone has had a reaction to sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate, drop us a comment below!