Simple Green

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Simple Green
OwnerSunshine Makers, Inc.
Introduced1979
MarketsAll-purpose cleaners
Websitewww.simplegreen.com

Simple Green is an American brand of cleaning products produced by Sunshine Makers, Inc.[1] Their best known product is Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner, which totaled sales of at least US$5.7 million in 2004.[2]

It is advertised as an environmentally friendly, non-toxic, and biodegradable cleaner. It received critical attention from environmental safety activists[2][3] because of the toxicity concerns of 2-butoxyethanol (EGBE), which was in the formula at under 4%.[4] As of 2013 2-butoxyethanol has been removed from Simple Green all-purpose cleaner, and has an NFPA/HMIS rating of 0/minimal for Health, Fire, Reactivity, and Special.[5] Its main competitors are Lysol and Clorox.

Environmental uses[edit]

Simple Green has been re-listed as an approved Surface Washing Agent per the EPA's National Contingency Plan after being de-listed in 1995. The new 2013 re-formulation, SW-65 was re-listed with the EPA on 7/09/2013[6][7] EPA toxicity testing reports that Menidia beryllina and Mysidopsis bahia survive slightly better in a water solution of 1:10 mixture of Simple Green with crude oil#2 (LC50 = 8.30 ppm for 96 h and 4.40 ppm for 48 h) than in a water solution of crude oil #2 (LC50 = 6.50 ppm for 96 h and 3.70 ppm for 48 h).[7]

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 fry. Crude oil #2 did not affect adults but did increase the mortality rate of fry to 36%. Crystal Simple Green combined with crude oil #2 did not affect adults but did increase the mortality rate of fry to 46%.[8]

Simple Green has also been used for soil remediation projects.[9][10]

Ingredients[edit]

Simple Green list the ingredients of their all-purpose cleaner as

Ingredient CAS Registry Number
Water 7732-18-5
C9-11 (?) alcohols ethoxylated 68439-46-3
Sodium citrate 68-04-2
Tetrasodium glutamate diacetate
(also listed as Tetrasodium N,N-bis(carboxymethyl)-L-glutamate)
51981-21-6
Sodium carbonate 497-19-8
Citric acid 77-92-9
Fragrance N/A
Liquitint colorant N/A
Preservative 55965-84-9

The manufacturer's Ingredient Disclosure list for Simple Green® All-Purpose Cleaner includes methylchloroisothiazolinone and methylisothiazolinone.[11]

References[edit]

  1. ^ The Simple Green History.
  2. ^ a b Daley B. (2005). "Eco-Products in Demand, but Labels Can Be Murky". The Boston Globe.
  3. ^ Alexandra Gorman. "Potential Hazards of Home Cleaning Products" (PDF). Women's Voices for the Earth.
  4. ^ Material Safety Data Sheet.
  5. ^ "Simple Green All Purpose Cleaner SDS" (PDF). Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  6. ^ "U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY NATIONAL CONTINGENCY PLAN PRODUCT SCHEDULE" (PDF). EPA. November 2015.
  7. ^ a b EPA NPC TECHNICAL PRODUCT BULLETIN #SW-15 Archived March 21, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Vosyliene M. Z.; 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.
  9. ^ Simple Green Bioremediation
  10. ^ Boone Dry Cleaner Site Remediation
  11. ^ (Simple Green Ingredient Disclosure)

External links[edit]