LINEAR ALKYLBENZENE SULFONATE (LAS) - UNEP Chemicals

OECD SIDS LINEAR ALKYLBENZENE SULFONATE (LAS)
The dermal exposures are also summarized below aggregated by product category use. The aggregation was
accomplished by adding the modeled exposures within a product category, e.g., three scenarios for liquid
detergent exposures were modeled – hand-washing, neat pre-treatment, and residual on clothing. These
human exposure evaluations include conservative (protective) input assumptions (e.g. all modeled exposures
are conservative by a factor of at least 100 due to use of a default assumption of 100% absorption vs. a
measured value of 1%).
Product Type
Estimated Exposure
(mg/kg/day)
NOAEL (mg/kg/day)
Laundry Detergent – Liquid 7.0E-3 to 6.1E-2 85
Laundry Detergent – Dry 1.4E-2 to 6.3E-2 85
Dish Detergent 6.0E-4 to 3.0E-3 85
Hard Surface Cleaners 1.0E-3 to 5.0E-4 85
Fabric Conditioning (dryer sheet) 5.0E-5 to 3.0E-4 85
Bar Soap 4.1E-3 to 2.0E-2 85
V. Production, Import and Use
(1) Estimated Volume (tonnes/year)
US/Canada – 390,000 tonnes/yr (2000 data, Colin A. Houston 2002)
Europe – 400,000 tonnes/yr (2001 data, HERA 2004)
Japan – 85,000 tonnes/yr (2000 data, LAS SIDS Coalition Survey 2002)
(2) Function/ Product Use Categories and Percent Volume to Each
LAS is a surfactant, used as the primary cleaning agent in a variety of consumer/commercial/industrial
laundry and cleaning products. About 78-97% of LAS consumption worldwide is in liquid, dry and tablet
laundry and fine fabric detergents. Another 2-10% is used in dishwashing liquids, with the remainder used in
other cleaners.
UNEP PUBLICATIONS 71