Simple Green
Simple Green is a brand of cleaning products produced by Sunshine Makers, Inc.[1] Their best known product is Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner, which in 2004 totaled sales of at least $5.7 million USD.[2]
It is advertised as an environmentally friendly, non-toxic, and biodegradable cleaner but now faces critical attention from environmental safety activists[2][3] because of the toxicity concerns of 2-butoxyethanol (EGBE), which is in the formula at under 4%.[4]
The company stands by its safety, stating that it is backed by over $3 million dollars in safety testing.[2]
[edit] Environmental Uses
Simple Green is listed as an approved Surface Washing Agent per the EPA's National Contingency Plan for oil spills since 1990.[5][6] EPA toxicity testing reports that Menidia beryllina and Mysidopsis bahia survive slightly better in a 1:10 solution of Simple Green/Crude Oil #2/water solution (LC50 8.30ppm-96hrs and 4.40ppm-48hrs, respectively) than in a Crude Oil #2/water solution (LC50 6.50-96hrs and 3.70ppm-48hrs, respectively).[6]
In 2001, Crystal Simple Green was used to clean up an oil spill in the Baltic Sea. In 2005, laboratory testing on rainbow trout indicated that Crystal Simple Green by itself did not affect the survival of rainbow trout adults or larvae. Crude oil #2 did not affect adults but did increase the mortality rate of larvae to 36%. Crystal Simple Green combined with Crude Oil #2 did not affect adults but did increase the mortality rate of larvae to 46%.[7]
Simple Green has also been used for soil remediation projects.[8][9]
[edit] References
- ^ The Simple Green History.
- ^ a b c Daley B. (2005). Eco-Products in Demand, but Labels Can be Murky. Boston Globe.
- ^ Alexandra Gorman. "Potential Hazards of Home Cleaning Products" (PDF). Women's Voices for the Earth. http://www.womenandenvironment.org/campaignsandprograms/SafeCleaning/HazardsReport.pdf.
- ^ Material Safety Data Sheet.
- ^ EPA National Contingency Plan Product Schedule
- ^ a b EPA NPC TECHNICAL PRODUCT BULLETIN #SW-15
- ^ Vosyliene MZ, Kazlauskiene N, Joksas K (2005). "Toxic effects of crude oil combined with oil cleaner simple green on yolk-sac larvae and adult rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss". Environmental science and pollution research international 12 (3): 136–9. doi:10.1065/espr2005.04.245. PMID 15986996.
- ^ Simple Green Bioremediation
- ^ Boone Dry Cleaner Site Remediation
