Is nonylphenol, a man-made chemical that feminizes male fish, causing bigger bellies in people? A recent peer-reviewed study found excess fat in liver and fat cells exposed to nonylphenol. See: Wada et al., J Pharmacol Sci. 2007. Such changes in fat storage lead to belly fat growth that is associated with diabetes,heart disease, and stroke.
Nonylphenol is produced by incomplete biodegradation of non-ionic surfactants. More than 500,000 pounds of non-ionic surfactants are produced each year in the U.S. Non-ionic surfactants are in auto and household cleaners, herbicides, pesticides, paints, deer repellents, and personal care products (sodium lauryl sulfate is the main ingredient in most shampoos). This is a partial list.
In fresh and saltwater, non-ionic surfactants biodegrade to nonylphenol. Nonylphenol enters the food chain and accumulates in the fat of fish and other animals. In people, higher Body Mass Index correlates with more of this alien hormone in our bodies.
How can we reduce our exposure to nonylphenol? In contrast to the build-up of nonylphenol in water, non-ionic surfactants in vegetated soil can be completely biodegraded by soil fungi and bacteria. By locating our homes, driveways, septic systems, and gardens away from our fresh and marine waters, the non-ionic surfactants can be completely biodegraded in a native plant buffer. The uneven surface and undisturbed leaf litter of a native buffer captures runoff much better than the smoother surfaces that people create in their landscaping. For homes on rocky land, bioswales can be created to treat the water that runs off roofs, driveways, and lawns.
The nonylphenol we are exposed to each day may seem insignificant. But, like one cigarette vs a lifetime of smoking, the impacts add up. To protect human health and to protect wildlife, broad natural buffers should separate new homes, and their driveways, gardens, and septic systems, from our fresh and marine waters. Existing homes will not be required to meet the new standards in the Critical Areas Ordinance update, but homeowners may create bioswales to intercept non-ionic surfactants and other pollutants before they reach our waters.
Janet Alderton
Orcas Island
The CAO public meeting on Orcas will be at the Orcas Senior Center September 22, 4-6 PM, and Lopez on September 23.
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Thanks. It caused me to go read the labels of the obvious surfactant products that I use. Can you suggest examples of effective products in the categories you mention that do not use non-ionic surfactants?
The Washington Toxics Coalition is an excellent source of information , and worthy of our support. Along with lobbying for safer products, they publish lists of household products, cosmetics, and more, with information on their safety and toxicity.
https://watoxics.org/
The Washington Toxics Coalition website is very good, but it does not appear to address non-ionic surfactants: https://watoxics.org/
Petrochemical-based non-ionic surfactants are almost everywhere because they were thought to be virtually harmless to people and are so very useful. The easiest way to avoid them is to look for the words “plant-based.” This usually means the surfactant is derived from coconut oil. Such plant-based products usually avoid other chemicals of concern such as formaldehyde, phosphates, phthalates, and triclosan, an antibacterial chemical that breaks down into a dioxin-like compound. The problem is that non-ionic surfactants masquerade under many names. In shampoos, they are sodium lauryl sufate and sodium laureth sulfate. To find a shampoo that lacked these surfactants, I entered the search term “sulfate-free shampoo” in a search engine. There are lots of results from such a search. I choose to try Max Green Alchemy shampoo. I like it, but it has many, many ingredients. Russel Barsch would like to test “green” products, such as this shampoo, for toxicity in a model aquatic system. The problem is that we need to clone Russel. He does not have enough time to do everything that he would like to do. Also, funding is an issue… A friend found a shampoo with just 3 ingredients: water, olive oil, and potassium hydroxide. It is called Bariani. Other “green” products are made by Trader Joe’s, Planet, and Ecover. I am sure that there are many more.
Sorry: I misspelled Russel’s name. Russel Barsh is director of Kwiaht, http://www.kwiaht.org.
Janet Alderton