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  • 2020-06-28 (xsd:date)
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  • Could Mixing Dawn Dish Soap with Clorox Bleach Kill You? (en)
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  • In June 2020, Snopes received numerous inquires from readers wondering if mixing Dawn dish soap with Clorox bleach products during household cleaning sprees could emit a toxic gas that would kill them. The question largely seemed to stem from social media posts and blog entries suggesting that that brand of dish soap contained ammonia and, when mixed with bleach, could create hazardous fumes. One Michigan-based DIY lifestyle blogger wrote: Upon our analysis of similar blog entries and posts, we determined the most popular claim to be this: Dawn dish soap contains ammonia even though it's not listed as an ingredient, and when mixed with Clorox bleach products, the results could be lethal. Firstly, to investigate the assertion, let this be known: ammonia, a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen (NH3), is a colorless gas with a distinct, suffocating odor. It dissolves easily in water to create ammonium hydroxide, which is commonly used in low concentration to make a variety of household and industrial-strength cleaning products, specifically some glass and window cleaners. Sodium hypochlorite is the active ingredient in chlorine bleach and is similarly diluted and mixed with other ingredients to make several household disinfectants, including many Clorox products for stain and soil cleaning. And when bleach is mixed with ammonia, yes, a toxic gas called chloramine is released into the air and can cause the following symptoms for people who breathe it in, according to the Washington State Department of Health: And in high concentrations, the gas can force people into comas or be deadly. Clorox states on its website: (If you do accidentally mix bleach and ammonia and feel one or more of the above-listed symptoms, immediately leave the contaminated area and call 911 or the American Association of Poison Control Centers 1-800-222-1222.) Now, we move on to the part of the claim regarding the composition and ingredient lists for Dawn dish soap. To determine whether the soaps contain ammonia and, therefore, should not be mixed with Clorox bleach products, we reviewed dozens of Safety Data Sheets — which outline product ingredient information as part of the United Nation's system for classifying and labeling chemicals — for the following types of soap: None of the documents listed any form of ammonia as part of Dawn products' composition or ingredients, which means it is false to assert that the dish cleaners contain the compound that causes a toxic gas when mixed with bleach. Additionally, it's false to claim that Dawn is nefariously putting ammonia in its products while omitting it from ingredient lists. Supporting our analysis of the Safety Data Sheets, a representative Proctor & Gamble, which owns the Dawn brand, told Snopes via email: Public health officials ask people to heed similar advice in regards to DIY cleaning concoctions. The Centers for Disease and Control (CDC) states on its website: avoid mixing chemical products and never mix household bleach with ammonia or any other cleanser. In sum, since mixing bleach and ammonia can be deadly, it's accurate to state that people should not combine Clorox bleach products with cleaners that contain ammonia; however, it is false to assert that Dawn dish soaps contain ammonia and/or that the company is nefariously leaving the compound off ingredient lists. For those reasons, we rate this claim a Mixture of true and untrue information. (en)
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