February 13, 2008
UPDATE ON KEY RISK ASSESSMENT OF LAS PUBLISHED IN THE CLER REVIEW
(Washington, DC) – A review of the updated HERA Project1 Health and Environmental Risk Assessment (HERA) of linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) – the most widely used household detergent ingredient in the world – is published in the latest volume (vol. 11) of The CLER Review.
This volume of The CLER Review features a summary by Dr. John Henize, CLER’s technical director and editor of the journal, on the new data and analysis in the environmental section of the LAS HERA report, which he notes as strengthening the database of studies supporting the HERA conclusion that “the ecological risk of LAS is judged to be low.”
In addition to the summary, The CLER Review includes eight supporting studies referenced in the updated LAS HERA report. The studies update the safety assessments for LAS in terrestrial and aquatic environments, and provide new information on anaerobic biodegradation in marine sediments. To support the safety assessments, the studies also provide important new data on LAS levels in European sewage sludge and other real world environmental monitoring studies as well as the low potential for LAS bioaccumulation in aquatic organisms.
The CLER Review is the technical journal of the Council for LAB/LAS Environmental Research (CLER), an organization of scientists and technical specialists representing manufacturers of linear alkylbenzene (LAB), the material used to produce LAS.
To receive a copy of volume 11 of The CLER Review , email cler@cler.com. For more information on LAS and CLER, please visit www.cler.com.
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1. The HERA Project was launched in 1999 as a partnership between the European makers of household cleaning products (AISE, the International Association for Soaps, Detergents and Maintenance Products is the official representative body of this industry in Europe) and the chemical industry (Cefic, the European Chemical Industry Council) to carry out comprehensive human and environmental risk assessments on ingredients of household cleaning products. The voluntary initiative aims to demonstrate, in an open and transparent way, that it is possible to effectively deliver risk assessments of chemicals used in household products using existing data and a common risk assessment framework.