Yes! They are dangerous to our health, and to the global environment and our home environments.  True Green's Natural Detergents and Laundry Washing and Dryer Balls do not contain any harmful detergents and are safe for you and the environment.

Laundry detergent contains ABS and LAS (Chemical Formula RC6H4SO3). ABS and LAS belong to a group of linear (LAS) and branched (ABS) alkylbenzene sulfonates classified as high production volume (HPV) chemicals according to criteria established by the US Environmental Protection Agency. LAS/ABS chemicals are anionic surfactants used to lower the surface tension of water. These chemicals are used in cleaning products for home, institutional, and industrial use.  Typical formulated products include car wash liquids, laundry detergents, liquid dish detergents, hard surface cleaners, dry cleaning products, waterless hand cleaners, and industrial cleaners.(1)  Because of the chemical structure of ABS and LAS, decomposition by micro-organisms is difficult.  When laundry detergent is added to water, its character is neutral.  But, when soap is soaked in water, its character is basic.

 

• Accumulation in the body:  Liver function lowers; the liver loses color and begins to show freckles.
• Strong removal of fat:  Causes skin disease by infecting with germs and mold.
• Used in Shampoo:  Makes hair thin; causes decoloration and hair loss.
• "Eutrophication":  Laundry detergent causes ecological damage by depleting oxygen in waterways.  Eutrophication is a process whereby water bodies, such as lakes, estuaries, or slow-moving streams receive excess nutrients that stimulate excessive plant growth (algae, periphyton-attached algae, and nuisance-plants weeds). This enhanced plant growth, often called an algal bloom, reduces dissolved oxygen in the water when dead plant material decomposes and can cause other organisms to die. Nutrients can come from many sources, such as fertilizers applied to agricultural fields, golf courses, and suburban lawns; deposition of nitrogen from the atmosphere; erosion of soil containing nutrients; and sewage treatment plant discharges.(2)

Surface-active agents, supplements, and fluorescent dyes are added to laundry detergents to enhance their effectiveness.   The influence of these agents on the human body is:

• Detergents for kitchen and laundry use contain fluorescent agents which have been reported to cause skin irritation, cancer, and malformation.  Residues of these detergents cannot be thoroughly eliminated from rivers or other water bodies.  So, the poisonous elements are mixed with faucet water and enter humans via use of this household water.  And further, if this faucet water is treated with chlorine, chlorine and the residues of laundry detergent combine to create Trihalomethan, a cancer-causing agent.
• Not only household water, but fruits and dishes that are washed with these detergents contain these residues which enter humans through the mouth and absorption through hands and skin.
• In human bodies, residues of laundry/kitchen detergents accelerate absorption of cadmium and mercury (heavy metals) raising cholesterol absorption, which causes high blood pressure, and destroying red blood cells.
• In babies, these residues which cannot be completely removed cause skin disease.
• In tests using mice, laundry/kitchen detergents were found to kill sperm which is closely related to child birth abnormalities/malformations.

• The most direct hazard is eczema – skin damage.  Most housewives have eczema.  If they change from detergent to soap, the symptoms can disappear within one to two months.
• Residues of ABS (surfactant) on clothes cause skin irritation especially in the summer when ABS melts and is in contact with skin.
• With the slow-down in liver activity, faces will develop a blackish color.  
• Increased fatigue occurs as a result of lower calcium and oxygen levels in blood vessels.  
• Kills sperm and is closely related to child birth abnormalities and malformations.
• Used as a shampoo detergents cause hair thinning and hair loss.