Laundry & Home Care:Ingredient Information and Disclosure
The safety and well-being of our consumers is our top priority. Henkel products are formulated to be safe when used as intended, which includes ensuring the safety of the ingredients used in our products. Henkel actively participates in industry efforts to evaluate the safety of new ingredients and emerging data on current ingredients. Each Henkel product ingredient and the levels used in the formulas are assessed and appropriate standards applied to ensure safety. Sensitive subpopulations are taken into consideration and we account for additional restrictions requested by our customers while always meeting our strict quality standards with the goal of delivering products that consistently perform well for our consumers.
Aligned with Henkel’s strategy and goals, we are committed to sustainability along the entire value chain, from raw materials to disposal – through resource efficiency and contributing to climate protection – and a comprehensive commitment to sustainable packaging and a circular economy for plastic.
As information on ingredients is of increasing interest to our customers and consumers, we are committed to providing more details related to our Laundry & Home Care products offered in North America.
Some Ingredients We Do Not Use
Following is a list of substances we restrict for the intentional use in our Laundry and Home Care formulas.
- Alkylphenols and alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEO)
- Basic Violet 1
- Benzene
- Bisphenol A
- Diclosan
- Fluorocarbon surfactants (PFOS, PFCA, FTOH)
- Heavy Metals (Arsenic, Lead, Chromium VI, Mercury, Cadmium, Nickel)
- Kojic Acid
- Microbeads
- Oak moss
- Oracet yellow RB
- Organotin compounds
- Parabens
- PVC
- Phosphonates
- Phosphates
- Phthalates (DBP, DEHP, BBP)
- Tree moss
- Triclosan
- Yellow No. 204
Commonly Used Ingredients
From time to time the necessity of certain types of ingredients used in Laundry & Home Care products is a topic of interest. Certain ingredients which may be contained in our Laundry & Home Care products make products safer, more desirable or are a byproduct of other ingredients needed for a specific benefit and present in a very small amount or in traces only:
Quaternary ammonium compounds (Quats)
Quaternary ammonium compounds are safe and effective ingredients in our fabric care products and are used to provide fabric softening and static control. As a class of ingredients, these substances have a low potential for skin penetration and have a long track record of safety and quality performance. The quats used in these products are readily biodegradable, meeting the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) biodegradability standards.
Preservatives
To ensure consumer safety by preventing microbial growth and deterioration of our products, water-based laundry detergents and cleaning products need to be preserved. When not preserved, products could start smelling unpleasant, change color or even worse, grow bacteria, yeasts or fungi which may be harmful to human health. Preservation helps to prolong shelf and storage life of our products and supports sustainability by optimizing use of resources, product safety and health & hygiene. All preservatives are used in strict compliance with the regulations in the jurisdiction in which they are sold and are safe use for human health and environment when the products are used as intended.
Fragrances
Fragrances give the formulas of our Laundry & Home Care products a pleasant scent and also mask the inherent odor of other ingredients, which is often perceived as unpleasant. Furthermore, fragrances ensure that laundry or cleaned surfaces, for example, smell fresh. Henkel fragrances are formulated to be safe when our products are used as intended, which includes at a minimum, compliance with the standards set by the International Fragrance Association (IFRA). These standards are based on risk assessments by an independent scientific expert panel and may prohibit or restrict the use of fragrance materials in consumer goods if there is concern for human health.
For a list of IFRA fragrance ingredients and the standards applied visit www.ifraorg.org/en-us/ingredients.
By-products and traces of ingredients
Using the best ingredients available to ensure products work as intended and meet Henkel’s high standards for safety and quality means in some cases our products contain unavoidable, trace levels of substances that have no specific purpose in our products. Our products are consistently formulated to ensure these trace ingredients are well below levels expected to be safe and are in full compliance with all federal and state requirements in jurisdictions in which our products are sold.
1,4 - dioxane
This substance is a byproduct of a manufacturing process used to make a small number of raw materials used by Henkel and may be present at very low levels in some of our products. The vast majority contain less than 10 parts per million (ppm) of 1,4 – dioxane. In exceptional cases, a few of our products contain up to 25 ppm, which has been agreed upon as a safe level for laundry detergents. When present in our products, 1,4-dioxane is below established safe limits.
Diethanolamine (DEA)
This substance is a trace material in ingredients used to adjust the pH of some of our products. DEA is not absorbed through the skin and would not become airborne from product use.
Ingredients We Are Moving Away From
We know the conversation continues to evolve about certain product ingredients, and we are committed to staying in touch with consumers to continually evolve our formulas too. We are in the process of removing the following ingredients from our Laundry & Home Care products, in order to stay on-trend with consumer preferences.
- Lilialby (by end of 2019)
- PCMs (by end of 2019)
- Non-biodegradable microplastic opacifiers (by end of 2020)
- Non-biodegradable microplastic encapsulations (by end of 2022)
If you have questions, please call us at 1-800-457-8739 for Laundry and Home Care.