Laundry Detergents Research Articles

SOCIALIZATION OF FINANCIAL LITERACY IN WASHING SOAP BUSINESS MANAGEMENT IN MERUYA UTARA VILLAGE

Carrying out community-based activities during a pandemic like this is very challenging for our implementing team. We are also adapting the form of activities to the needs and desires of information thirst in relation to financial literacy socialization in the management of the laundry soap business in North Meruya Village. This will make it easier for residents, especially in the environment of North Meruya Village, to recognize the recording and compilation of their business financial reports. This activity will certainly provide convenience for residents, can help open business opportunities, and later be able to evaluate performance, and also aims to improve the performance of the laundry soap product business in North Meruya. Financial literacy provides new understanding to RW03 North Meruya Village about financial terms and can use the online application to process financial reports to make it easier for business actors to be able to record each transaction per day, see the amount of turnover and profit that has been obtained, and can provide simple financial reports that can be used by business actors in evaluating their business performance.

A comparison of maceration methods for the preparation of infant skeletal remains for forensic anthropological analysis

Very little literature currently exists prescribing which maceration method to use when preparing infant human remains, resulting in bone quality that is suitable for forensic anthropological analysis. The aim of the study was to test five maceration methods to determine which is most suitable for infant remains for forensic anthropological analysis. The sample included five neonate pig carcasses (Sus scrofa domesticus), ranging between one to three days old. Five maceration methods were tested on the pig carcasses (one pig per maceration method) to determine their effectiveness. The methods included invertebrate maceration by meal worms, chemical maceration by bleach, chemical maceration by borax solution, enzymatic maceration by laundry detergent and sodium carbonate solution, and chemical maceration by sodium hypochlorite. A scoring method was created to assess the effectiveness of each maceration method. Invertebrate maceration and chemical maceration using bleach were the least successful methods of maceration (total maceration score = 8 respectively). Chemical maceration using borax and chemical maceration using sodium hypochlorite achieved complete maceration of the skeletal remains; however, they both resulted in artifacts that are unsuitable for forensic analysis (total maceration score = 14 respectively). Enzymatic maceration using laundry detergent and sodium carbonate was the most successful method (total maceration score = 17). The detergent technique subsequently successfully macerated all five sets of infant human remains. This study has validated that the enzymatic maceration technique using laundry detergent and sodium carbonate can be used to effectively macerate the remains of infant skeletal remains for forensic anthropological analysis.

Why are adults exposed to liquid laundry detergent capsules?

Introduction Exposures to liquid laundry detergent capsules in adults are less well characterized than in children. Methods All enquiries to the Centro Antiveleni di Milano regarding adults (>18 years) who were exposed to these capsules between July 2010 and July 2023 were analyzed. Enquiries were followed up with one or more recalls depending on the severity of the patient. Results Over the study period, 127 adults were exposed. The age distribution was as follows: 34 patients were aged 18-39 years, 29 were 40-59 years, 24 were 60-79 years, 26 were 80-96 years, and the age was unknown in 14. Exposure occurred mainly as a result of ingestion alone (n = 54), skin contact alone (n = 23), and eye contact alone (n = 31). Oral exposure without swallowing occurred in nine cases, and inhalation of the odour from a disintegrated capsule in four. Multiple routes of exposure were involved in six patients. Thirty-four (63 per cent) of the 54 ingestions occurred in those with dementia or intellectual disability, and three patients in this group died. Dermal or eye exposures did not involve those with dementia. Conclusions These data show that the majority of adults in Italy who ingest liquid laundry detergent capsules are suffering from dementia or other cognitive impairment.

Longitudinal trends in liquid laundry detergent packet exposures: 2014–2022

Background Liquid laundry detergent packet exposures modestly declined in the mid-2010s among children less than 6 years of age due to public awareness and voluntary product safety standards. We aimed to assess longitudinal trends in the number and rate of liquid laundry detergent packet exposures in the United States by age. Methods Data from the National Poison Data System were analyzed to characterize liquid laundry detergent packet exposures between January 2014 and December 2022. Results From 2014–2022, there were 114,826 single and polysubstance exposures to liquid laundry detergent packets. Children less than 6 years of age (86.8 percent) were most commonly exposed. When evaluating multi-year trends, we found that the annual exposure rate per 1 million children less than 6 years old increased by 16.8 percent from 392.6 in 2018 to 458.7 in 2020. Subsequently, the annual exposure rate in children less than 6 years of age declined by 6.8 percent from 2020 to 2022 (427.4 exposures per 1 million). The annual rate of adolescent exposures increased by 85.4 percent from 2014 (4.1 exposures per 1 million) to 2017 (7.6 exposures per 1 million), with a subsequent increase of 155.3 percent from 2017 to 2018 (19.4 exposures per 1 million). Among adults, the annual exposure rate increased by 147.1 percent from 2014 (1.7 exposures per 1 million) to 2022 (4.2 exposures per 1 million). The number of more serious medical outcomes and hospital admissions among children less than 6 years of age declined by 44.3 percent and 68.6 percent, respectively, between 2014 and 2018. Conclusions Despite declines in the number, rate, and severity of liquid laundry detergent packet exposures among children less than 6 years old, the exposure burden remains high. Additionally, exposures have increased among older children, adolescents, and adults. Renewed safety efforts are warranted to protect prior public health gains and further reduce exposures.

Surfactants in waste water: Development, current status and associated challenges

Using soaps, disinfectants, sanitizers, surface cleaners, and detergents on a large scale has increased during COVID-19, making it apparent again to review their scale of usage. Increasing consumption of disinfectants, soaps, and detergents for hygiene enhancement in medical, domestic, and corporate sectors triggers a significant increase in the contaminants in wastewater. Surfactants facilitate cleansing by lowering the surface tension. Surfactants, the main ingredients of soaps, detergents, and cleansing agents, impart different properties to the cleansing systems. Surfactants are used as substrates in the synthesis of various products, including dyes, pigments, pesticides, exchange resins, plasticizers, and pharmaceuticals, along with their primary use in household and laundry detergents and cleaners, cosmetics, textile and tanning industry, paints, preservative coatings, pulp and paper, and petroleum products. A significant portion of surfactants is let into the water bodies through laundry detergents. The detergent formulations constitute almost 40% of surfactants. The quest for effective detergents and disinfecting properties has led to the pursuit of newer alternatives for surfactant incorporation.The current manuscript represents the journey of surfactants in terms of their development over time, the modifications carried out to impart desired traits, and their hazardous implications. A study on species of Anabas testudineus showed that the fishes are fatally affected by detergent concentrations above 200 mg/L. It further encompasses the proposed alterations to combat the harmful environmental effects. Cationic surfactants were observed to have a more hazardous impacts than anionic and non-ionic surfactants. The manuscript emphasizes the utilization of more environment-friendly substitutes for surfactant molecules. It presents an overview of different molecules which are a part of surfactants, hazardous traits, and prospects associated with different surfactant entities.

Cloning, expression, and characterization of a surfactant-stable alkaline serine protease (KNBSSP1) from Bacillus safensis PRN1 with remarkable applications in laundry and leather industries

Proteases represent an important category of proteolytic enzymes with vast biotechnological applications in various industries like detergent, leather, agriculture, poultry, pharmaceutical, food, etc. The present study proposes an eco-friendly enzyme-mediated approach as opposed to conventional chemical approaches in detergent and laundry industries that are hazardous to human health and the environment. Accordingly, the knbsSP1gene, which encodes the trypsin-like serine protease KNBSSP1, from Bacillus safensis PRN1 was isolated, cloned into an expression vector (PET-28a), and expressed in the Escherichia coli cells BL21 (DE3). A single Ni-NTA affinity chromatography step was utilized to purify the recombinant protease (rKNBSSP1). The molecular weight of the rKNBSSP1 was approximately ∼33 kDa determined in Sodium Dodecyl-Sulfate Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The rKNBSSP1 showed optimal activity at 60 °C and pH 8. It retained above 70% of its enzyme activity at pH 10 and 70 °C. The protease was strongly inhibited by phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF) and diisopropyl fluorophosphate suggesting its inclusion in the serine family of protease. The rKNBSSP1 demonstrated outstanding compatibility and stability with metal ions, commercial detergents, and surfactants, exhibiting 97.8 ± 2.5% stability with Surf Excel, a commercial laundry detergent, and 96.9 ± 2.0% stability with SDS. Interestingly, the protease demonstrated blood-stained removal and goat skin dehairing (8 h) properties. All these remarkable characteristics make this protease a potential eco-friendly candidate in the detergent formulation and leather processing industries.

Pemanfaatan Sumber Daya Desa Dengan Pelatihan Pembuatan Sabun Deterjen Cair Berbasis Industri Rumah Tangga

Utilization of village resources is an effort to develop the independence and welfare of rural communities by increasing knowledge, attitudes, skills, behavior, abilities, awareness, and utilizing resources through establishing policies, programs, activities and assistance that are in accordance with the essence of the problems and priority needs of the village community . The direction of community empowerment in general stems from two main objectives, namely releasing the shackles of poverty and underdevelopment and strengthening the position of the community in the power structure. Compared to the previous product, namely soap, detergent has the advantage of having better washing powder and not being affected by water hardness. In practice, many laundry services use detergents as washing agents because detergents have effective cleaning properties compared to ordinary soap.

Alkaline Thermo- and Oxidant-Stable Protease from Bacillus pumilus Strain TNP93: Laundry Detergent Formulations.

The study aims to produce a detergent-compatible and alkaline thermophilic protease from a Bacillus strain and to investigate its usability as a detergent bio-additive. The protease-producing bacterium was identified as Bacillus pumilus strain TNP93 according to the 16S rRNA sequence. The bacterium optimally synthesized the protease at 40°C and pH 10 in 40h. The raw protease displayed its optimum activity at pH 10 and 60°C and its stability between pH 6-13 and 30-100°C for 24h. The molecular mass of the proteolytic band was estimated to be about 85kDa. The protease was not inhibited by any of the metal ions used (Ba2+, Ca2+, Co2+, Cu2+, Mg2+, Mn2+, Zn2+). 97 and 90% of its original activity with 5mM PMSF and EDTA remained. The activity was measured as 84, 124, and 95%, respectively, in the presence of 1% concentrations of Tween 20, Tween 80, and Triton X-100. In addition, all of its activity was preserved when the enzyme was exposed to 5% H2O2. The end products of casein were detected as tyrosine, aspartic acid, glycine, and cysteine by thin-layer chromatography. Considering the wash performance analysis, the mix of 1% commercial detergent and enzyme almost removed all of the protein-based stains (blood and egg yolk albumin). These remarkable findings indicate that the alkaline, thermo-, and oxidant-stable TNP93 protease is a valuable candidate for usage as a biological additive in various laundry detergents.

A 35-month-old boy who ingested laundry detergent pods and underwent veno-pulmonary extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support

Laundry detergent pod (LDP) exposure has been reported to be fatal in children younger than 2 years, leading to respiratory or central nervous system depression. While gastrointestinal irritation is the most common symptom, there are reported cases of severe acidosis with respiratory depression or pneumonia, resulting in mortality. To our best knowledge, there is no report on a case of LDP exposure presenting with acute respiratory distress syndrome requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support. Here, we present a case of a child with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome following LDP exposure, who was successfully treated with veno-pulmonary extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and steroids.

Magnetically recoverable copper ferrite for catalytic ozonation of surfactant-containing simulated laundry wastewater

Laundry detergent wastewater is a valuable renewable resource released in vast quantities that can be reused to alleviate water shortage issues. The primary contaminant found in laundry wastewater, which is the surfactant has harmful impacts on the ecosystem, resulting in the eutrophication of lakes and rivers. This study examines the effectiveness of catalytic ozonation treatment using a magnetically recoverable copper ferrite to treat surfactant-containing laundry wastewater. A magnetically recoverable copper ferrite was successfully prepared using a modified sol-gel method for the remediation of detergent wastewater. The modified sol-gel method uses a low calcination temperature (350 °C) synthesis process to prepare spinel-structured copper ferrite. The physicochemical properties of the prepared copper ferrite were evaluated using XRD, FT-IR, XPS, FESEM, BET, and VSM analyses. Various process parameters such as initial concentration, solution pH, catalyst dosage, and ozone dosage were investigated to reveal the ozone activation capability and catalytic mechanism. The surfactant degradation performance in catalytic ozonation was compared with the non-catalytic ozonation, respectively. Results indicated that the copper ferrite exhibited excellent ozone activation ability, with 98.4% of surfactant degradation at an initial concentration of 10 ppm, a reaction time of 30 min, a catalyst dosage of 0.2 g/L, an initial pH of 7 and an ozone dosage of 3.68 mg/min. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) elimination rate at this setting was 79.5% compared to 26.7% for non-catalytic ozonation. The biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) removal percentages for ozonation and catalytic ozonation were 33.3% and 93.3%, respectively. Simple economical assessment using electrical energy per order (EE/O) showed that low electrical energy was consumed by the catalytic ozonation (60.31 kWhm−3order−1) compared to the ozonation process (381.68 kWhm−3order−1). The copper ferrite can be quickly recovered from the treated water by applying an external magnet, enabling catalyst reuse and easy collection of treated water. Several limitations restrict its application, including metal leaching and catalyst agglomeration. This is the first application of copper ferrite-catalysed ozonation for the remediation of laundry effluent-containing surfactants. These findings showed a vast application potential of catalytic ozonation using copper ferrite for surfactant-containing laundry wastewater treatment.

Osteology of the Hamadryas Baboon (Papio hamadryas).

Besides living as a free-ranging primate in the horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, the hamadryas baboon has an important place in zoos and can be found in biomedical research centers worldwide. To be valuable as a non-human primate laboratory model for man, its anatomy should be portrayed in detail, allowing for the correct interpretation and translation of obtained research results. Reviewing the literature on the use of the baboon in biomedical research revealed that very limited anatomical works on this species are available. Anatomical atlases are incomplete, use archaic nomenclature and fail to provide high-definition color photographs. Therefore, the skeletons of two male hamadryas baboons were prepared by manually removing as much soft tissues as possible followed by maceration in warm water to which enzyme-containing washing powder was added. The bones were bleached with hydrogen peroxide and degreased by means of methylene chloride. Photographs of the various bones were taken, and the anatomical structures were identified using the latest version of the Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria. As such, the present article shows 31 annotated multipanel figures. The skeleton of the hamadryas baboon generally parallels the human skeleton, but some remarkable differences have been noticed. If these are taken into consideration when evaluating the results of experiments using the hamadryas baboon, justified conclusions can be drawn.

Unveiling the rules for creating circular business ecosystems: A case study in the chemical industry

Moving to a circular economy (CE) is crucial for achieving sustainability. However, many industries face challenges to make the transition. Industries function as complex systems, encompassing multiple business ecosystems (BEs) influenced by a myriad of market forces. Due to the absence of a single point of control, the evolution of industries and their BEs can follow various paths. If transitioning to a CE is a desired outcome, understanding the guidelines and restrictions - or 'rules' - that facilitate the emergence of circular BEs within industries is essential. This research therefore investigates the transition to a CE in the chemicals manufacturing industry through the lens of BEs, system theory, and orchestration theory. A two-stage instrumental case study was conducted, beginning with focus group discussions involving a broad spectrum of stakeholders in the chemical industry, followed by the analysis of a specific circular laundry detergent BE. Our findings deepen the understanding of CE, especially within the chemicals industry, by unveiling seven system rules that govern the transition. These rules emphasise the importance of motivations, challenges, cross-sector collaborations, and BE orchestration. Furthermore, our study highlights the consumers' readiness for circular value propositions and the pressing need for both private and governmental investment to scale up. Additionally, our findings shed light on the potential for synergies between highly carbon-intensive industries in the realm of CE. Despite the complexity of managing such intricate relationships, it is argued that fair distribution of gains and burdens can sustain circular BEs in the long run, which ultimately contributes to reducing carbon emissions and mitigating climate change.

Cultivation of Chlorella for biomass production and nutrient removal from unsterilized human urine containing washing powder wastewater

ABSTRACT Human urine accounts for less than 1% of domestic sewage while contributes about 80% of nitrogen and 50% of phosphorous. The source-separated human urine featuring high nutrients and low impurities, turbidity, and pathogenic bacteria is a high-quality microalgae culture medium whereas frequently mixed with flush water containing washing powder and usually overdiluted or sterilized before culturing microalgae. The work presented here aimed to assess the Chlorella pyrenoidsa (FACHB-5) and Chlorella sp. (FACHB-1554) cultivation in unsterilized human urine containing washing powder wastewater in terms of the biomass and protein production and the removals of nitrogen, phosphorus, and chemical oxygen demand. FACHB-5 and FACHB-1554 could eliminate 84.79% and 96.33% ammonium nitrogen, 83.66% and 95.18% total nitrogen, 85.77% and 96.32% total phosphorus, and 38.53% and 86.86% chemical oxygen demand from human urine under 40% of human urine wastewater addition ratio and no washing powder wastewater addition and achieved 0.5 and 1.01 g/L biomass yields and 60% and 50% protein contents. The washing powder wastewater significantly inhibited the growths of FACHB-5 and FACHB-1554. As the washing powder wastewater addition ratio increased, the yield of FACHB-5 decreased while the production of FACHB-1554 followed a tendency to rise and then fall. FACHB-1554 was more tolerant to human urine and washing powder wastewater than FACHB-5, and 1% and 2% of washing powder wastewater addition ratios were relatively optimal for FACHB-5 and FACHB-1554 to reach 0.32 and 0.45 g/L of yields and alike 53% of protein contents. Under the conditions, the removals of ammonium nitrogen, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and chemical oxygen demand reached 66.25%, 64.33%, 65.31%, and 32.53% for FACHB-5 and 76.16%, 74.36%, 75.15%, and 42.31% for FACHB-1554, respectively. Studies revealed the feasibility of cultivating microalgae in a high concentration of unsterilized source-separated human urine wastewater, which might be a promising low-cost approach for realizing the scale production of microalgae, purifying domestic wastewater, and promoting the development of value-added biofuels, microalgae protein, and other industries.

Feasibility study of detecting some milk adulterations using a LED-based Vis-SWNIR photoacoustic spectroscopy system.

The aim of this study is to evaluate a previousely developed photoacoustic spectroscopy system with light sources of visible to short-wave near infrared (Vis-SWNIR, 395-940nm) for detection of adulterations in cow's milk including formalin, urea, hydrogen peroxide, starch, sodium hypochlorite, and detergent powder. The results of principal component analysis (PCA) showed a very good visual differentiation of different adulterations. The artificial neural networks (ANN) showed the highest classification accuracy (97.6%) in detection of adulteration type and adulteration level (nearly 100%). It can be generally concluded that the Vis-SWNIR photoacoustic spectroscopy system is a reliable and potent instrument for detecting various types of milk adulterations. Further studies are suggested with including cow's milk of different sources with probable variations in composition to generalize the findings of the present study. With the extension of the light sources to the range of long-wave NIR, the system can be applied as a diagnostic tool for quality evaluation of other liquid foods.

Paradigm Shift in Gender Role Representation in Laundry Soap Commercials

The Philippines is a patriarchal society because their former colonizers emphasized submission to the male gender. Throughout the years women struggled for their recognition and asserted their rights. However, the media portrayed them as dependent on men to reinforce their traditional roles as plain housewives who dutifully served their husbands and had to center their attention on household chores with utmost care. Using content and thematic analysis of commercials of leading laundry soap in the Philippines, namely Tide, Surf, and Champion, from 2015 to 2021, it was found that a paradigm shift has already occurred in gender roles and representation among women in the Philippines. They were initially portrayed as husband-pleasers, and eventually, they were represented as strong and independent women, which shows that they are now seen as capable of living their lives. Washing clothes was no longer shown as a way to please husbands but to make their children happy. Keywords: paradigm shift, gender roles, laundry soaps, content and thematic analysis, media representation

Household laundry detergents disrupt barrier integrity and induce inflammation in mouse and human skin.

Epithelial barrier impairment is associated with many skin and mucosal inflammatory disorders. Laundry detergents have been demonstrated to affect epithelial barrier function in vitro using air-liquid interface cultures of human epithelial cells. Back skin of C57BL/6 mice was treated with two household laundry detergents at several dilutions. Barrier function was assessed by electric impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and transepidermal water loss (TEWL) measurements after the 4 h of treatments with detergents. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and targeted multiplex proteomics analyses in skin biopsy samples were performed. The 6-h treatment effect of laundry detergent and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was investigated on ex vivo human skin. Detergent-treated skin showed a significant EIS reduction and TEWL increase compared to untreated skin, with a relatively higher sensitivity and dose-response in EIS. The RNA-seq showed the reduction of the expression of several genes essential for skin barrier integrity, such as tight junctions and adherens junction proteins. In contrast, keratinization, lipid metabolic processes, and epidermal cell differentiation were upregulated. Proteomics analysis showed that the detergents treatment generally downregulated cell adhesion-related proteins, such as epithelial cell adhesion molecule and contactin-1, and upregulated proinflammatory proteins, such as interleukin 6 and interleukin 1 beta. Both detergent and SDS led to a significant decrease in EIS values in the ex vivo human skin model. The present study demonstrated that laundry detergents and its main component, SDS impaired the epidermal barrier in vivo and ex vivo human skin. Daily detergent exposure may cause skin barrier disruption and may contribute to the development of atopic diseases.

Thermostable keratinase from Bacillus cereus L10: optimization and some potential biotechnological applications

AbstractThe accumulation of feather waste is a critical problem in solid waste management; therefore, microbial management of waste is highly significant. Consequently, the keratinolytic capacity of some bacteria isolated from the keratinous waste area was evaluated. The most promising isolate coded as L10 showed the highest feather degradation efficiency 72.7% was identified as Bacillus cereus L10 using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The effect and contribution of independent process variables were studied by Plackett–Burman design. The optimal values of the independent variables obtained from the Plackett–Burman design were chicken feather, 1%; K2HPO4, 0.3%; KH2PO4, 0.05%; MgSO4 7H2O, 0.01%; yeast extract, 0.05%; inoculum size 4% with pH 7 and incubation period 5 days at 35 °C. The optimal parameters were validated resulting in the enhancement of keratinase production (9.602 U/ml), protein concentration (521.17 µg/ml), and feather degradation (94%) along with a 4.56-fold increased of keratinase production. The enzyme is relatively thermostable, completely stable between 30 and 80 °C for 1 h and retained 97.66% of its activity at 100 °C. B. cereus L10 was able to degrade different types of keratins. Interestingly, the feather hydrolysate from optimized keratinase production medium showed plant growth promoting activity by producing indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). The feathers hydrolysate produced a great benefit by its use as a soil biofertilizer through enhancing the germination of Triticum aestivum. The important implication of keratinase in laundry detergent and leather industry was examined. Results revealed that the enzyme achieved great efficiency in removing protein and blood-rich stains within 30 min at 36 °C in addition to its thoroughly dehairing of cow-hide after 40 h incubation without any damage. The dehaired pelt exhibited a smooth, velvety, and white color surface, good flexibility. Therefore, our study presents an effective method to turn waste into wealth. Graphical Abstract

Preparation of blast furnace dust particle electrodes and their application in synergistic electrochemical degradation of saline polyvinyl alcohol wastewater

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) has been widely used as a water-soluble plastic in laundry and dish detergent pods, yet wastewater contaminated with PVA is too difficult to be treated due to its high salinity and foaming. Here, we fabricated blast furnace dust (BFD) particle electrodes, and developed a three-dimensional electrocatalytic system (3DEC) to treat saline PVA wastewater. The optimum preparation condition for BFD particle electrode was iron carbon ratio of 2:1 doping with TiO2. The optimal parameters of 3DECs for PVA wastewater degradation were thoroughly investigated, with current density of 30 mA/cm2, electrode distance of 30 mm, pH value of 7.0, and particle electrode filling rate of 50%. PVA wastewater degradation rate could reach 89.33% within 120 min. The underlying mechanism of iron-carbon micro electrolysis and electrocatalytic system was further studied. PVA wastewater was degraded by direct catalytic oxidation from electrodes. A scavenger experiment showed that free radicals consisting of •OH and HClO mainly contributed to the PVA wastewater degradation. HClO was generated by Cl− at the electrocatalysis and micro electrolysis of particles. In addition, the lifetime of the prepared BFD particle electrode was 120 h, which exhibited electrochemical stability. These findings highlight that the 3DECs coupled with BFD particle electrode is a promising electrocatalysis process for the removal of PVA wastewater.

Negative formaldehyde release from textiles washed with a formaldehyde-containing laundry soap according to manufacturer instructions: An application of chromotropic acid testing.

Formaldehyde is a common preservative used to prevent microbial growth in water. It can be found in personal care products and household cleaning products, including laundry detergents. Formaldehyde has frequently been recognised as a cause of allergic contact dermatitis, but whether it remains present in textiles washed with formaldehyde-containing laundry detergents is unknown. This study aimed to utilise the chromotropic acid method (CAM) to assess formaldehyde release from textiles washed with a laundry detergent known to contain formaldehyde. Textiles were laundered with a detergent containing calcium formate at four concentrations (0×, 0.5×, 1× and 5× the recommended amount per manufacturer label) and kept wet or allowed to dry. Select textiles were subjected to an additional rinse cycle. Textiles were then tested utilising the CAM. A sample of the pure laundry detergent was also tested using the CAM. The CAM was positive only for wet textiles washed at 5× the recommended concentration of detergent and pure detergent. All dry textiles were negative. Formaldehyde release was not detected from any textiles washed following the manufacturer's recommendations. Once dry, it is likely safe for formaldehyde-allergic patients to wear textiles washed with formaldehyde-containing detergents.

Electrochemical Cell for in-Situ Synthesis of Hydrogen Peroxide in Household Washing Machines

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is used as bleaching agent in household appliances like washing machines. For the bleaching of laundry with H2O2, an alkaline environment is required in the washing machine, which is ensured by the use of an heavy-duty detergent. In powdered heavy-duty detergents for washing machines, H2O2 is provided in form of sodium percarbonate, which releases H2O2 as soon as it is dissolved in water. As long-term stability of H2O2 in liquids requires acidic environment, no sufficient amount of H2O2 based bleach can be stored in liquid heavy-duty detergents, resulting in a lower bleaching efficiency for laundry cleaning. However, liquid heavy-duty detergents can be dosed fully automatically in washing machines, which is convenient for the user and can reduce the detergent consumption by optimizing dosing amount [1]. To take advantage of a fully automatic dosing system and at the same time obtain an effective heavy-duty detergent with bleach capability, an additional in-situ bleach source is required. An attractive route for the in-situ production of H2O2 is the electrochemical reduction of oxygen (O2) at a carbon-based cathode in a flow cell. The use of a gas diffusion electrode (GDE) results in higher production rates by directly supplying gaseous O2 to the reaction site compared to a submerged cathode where O2 is dissolved in the electrolyte [2,3]. As evidenced by the lack of literature, this kind of a specific application-related flow cell design for the use in a washing machine has not yet been developed.Therefore, a compact and simple electrochemical flow cell was developed that can provide sufficient H2O2 quantities within the time scale of a washing cycle and can be installed in a washing machine. The novel cell consists of an electrolyte reservoir, which is integrated within the cell and is separated from the dimensionally stable anode (DSA) by a divided wall. The expanded metal design of the DSA allows a zero gap arrangement by allowing the separator to lie directly on the anode. Between separator and carbon-based GDE, the electrolyte can be pumped in a circuit via the reservoir. A three-way valve allows the electrolyte accumulated with H2O2 to be discharged to the washing machine. The GDE is supplied with atmospheric O2 from the non-anode-facing side. During operation, the cell is first filled with electrolyte via the filling hole. As soon as the anode chamber (between the anode and the divided wall) is completely filled, the liquid can flow over the divided wall and fill the reservoir. Subsequently, the circulation pump and the air supply of the GDE are started and the current is applied. During electrolysis, the H2O2 is produced in the GDE and accumulates in the circulated electrolyte. The divided wall and the separator prevent the direct oxidation of H2O2 at the anode. The O2 produced at the anode can escape via the gas vent. After a sufficient amount of H2O2 has been generated in the electrolyte, electrolysis is stopped and the H2O2-solution is pumped into the drum of the washing machine via the 3-way valve.The transient H2O2 faradaic efficiency and energy consumption were compared to literature data. The combination of in-situ H2O2 production with liquid heavy-duty detergent was compared to a solid heavy-duty detergent using a standard soiled cotton textiles test.[1] Smulders, E. (2001), Laundry Detergents, Wiley-VCH; 1. Edition.[2] Pérez, J. F., et al. (2016), Electroch. Com. 71, 65–68.[3] Muddemann, T., et al. (2021), Proc. 9, 1482. Figure 1