Enzyme Detergents Under Investigation

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32164, 6 December 1969, Page 13

Enzyme Detergents Under Investigation

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) WASHINGTON, Dec. 5. The United States Federal Trade Commission said yesterday It had ordered a study of possible health hazards of enzymeactive detergents. The agency said that workers in factories making such detergents had had a variety of health problems, including dermatitis and flulike symptoms. It was not known, the agency said, whether consumers who were exposed to the detergents in much smaller concentrations could suffer ill-effects.

The study will be carried out by the agency’s staff. Enzyme-active detergents first appeared on the United States market late in 1967, and have gradually attracted housewives away from the older-type laundry detergents. Enzyme powders now account for abou'. 70 per cent of the detergent market in the United States.

The agency said its data on exposure to high-concen-tration enzymes in detergent factories had been gathered in England and the United States.

A spokesman said the agency had collected scientific articles on the subject from British medical publications, such as “Lancet.” The announcement said the purpose of the investigation was to see whether prolonged

use by consumers would be sufficiently hazardous to justify requiring manufacturers to warn purchasers of possible ill-effects. Under the Federal Trade Commission Act, the agency could require such warnings in advertisements and on labels.