GoodGuide Dishwashing Products Ratings

The dishwasher, according to some researchers, is the most toxic appliance in the house. When it heats up, it releases all the various chemicals from both the soap you’ve used and the tap water in your town into the air, potentially adding toxic chemicals to your indoor environment. Environmental groups recommend you run your dishwasher with the windows open for ventilation and make sure not to open it until it’s completely dried to save yourself from breathing in a huge, concentrated cloud of toxins as the steam escapes the dishwasher. Dishwashing chemicals that don’t stay in your home wash out into the sewers, where they sometimes escape into streams and ponds. (more)

It’s important as a water and energy-saving measure to use the dishwasher only when it’s really full; added to that, it’s important as a health-saving measure.

You can reduce the toxics a dishwasher releases by looking for detergents without chlorine, a lung and eye irritant, and phosphates, which are environmental pollutants and toxic to marine life.

If you’re doing dishes by hand, look for soaps with plant-based, not petroleum-based, cleaning ingredients. You can browse GoodGuide to find dishwasher detergent and liquid soap makers who disclose their ingredients, and many products will say on the label if they do not contain chlorine or phosphates.