ECOS Dishwashing Liquid – Safe Or Toxic?

Do you usually toss a bottle of dishwashing liquid into your cart during your regular grocery run? If so, chances are you’ve seen ECOS Dishwashing Liquid — a popular Safer Choice-certified cleaner that reportedly cuts grease while being plant-derived, pH balanced, and septic safe. But how safe is it really? In this in-depth ECOS dish soap review, we’ll take a closer look at its ingredients so you can make an informed decision for your home.

ECOS Dishwashing Liquid – Safe or Toxic?

Even with a dishwasher, the average household spends more than five hours a week washing dishes by hand. Since our skin and respiratory systems can absorb chemicals from everyday cleaners, choosing non-toxic dishsoap makes a real difference.

Many conventional dishwashing liquids rely on petrochemical surfactants and synthetic fragrances to create foam and scent. However, those additives can trigger allergies, irritate skin, and contribute to long-term health effects. That’s why I research ingredients in depth and share what I find, so you can choose a dishwashing liquid that’s effective, gentle, and genuinely safe.

This mission is deeply personal to me. I lost my father to cancer when he was just 57, and later I faced my own health challenges that revealed how much our everyday products matter. Since then, I’ve dedicated myself to investigating what’s really inside the items we use daily. So, let’s see if ECOS Dishwashing Liquid truly offers a safe, plant-based, grease-cutting solution without harming your health.

ECOS Dishwashing Liquid Ingredients

For starters, I would like to point out that after reformulation, ECOS ingredients are better now (methylisothiazolinone is gone!).  This is a testament to consumer power.  So, thank you all for contacting companies and providing them with your feedback!

At present, the Hypoallergenic Ecos Free and Clear dish soap consists of the following ingredients:

Let us talk about each of them briefly, shall we?

Tetrasodium Glutamate Diacetate, Citric Acid, and Water

To begin, tetrasodium glutamate diacetate, a chelating agent, serves as a water softener in the ECOS Free and Clear formulation.  Importantly, the European Chemicals Agency reports no notified hazards for this substance.  

Next, citric acid in this hypoallergenic dish soap functions as a pH adjuster.  It is safe in small concentrations for this purpose.  (Learn about sodium benzoate and citric acid used in combination in my post Sodium Benzoate & Citric Acid Myth.)

As for water, while it sounds innocuous, it provides a breeding environment for microbial and fungal growth.  Therefore, the presence of water indicates the need for preservatives.  (Check out my comprehensive review of scientific studies on bacteria in consumer goods in my post about WaterWipes baby wipes.) 

Preservatives In ECOS Dish Soap

As I mentioned previously, ECOS dishwashing liquid used to have methylisothiazolinone as one of its preservatives.  With it gone now (yay!), there are two preservatives in the formula:

• phenoxyethanol
• ethylhexylglycerin.

First, in my opinion, phenoxyethanol is better than some of its alternatives, such as formaldehyde-releasing preservatives, parabens, and methylisothiazolinone.  However, the American Society of Contact Dermatitis lists it among allergens even in concentrations as low as 1%.  The main reason I am cautious about phenoxyethanol is its manufacturing process. On a positive note, it is not registered as an environmental toxin. Learn more in my blog post Is Phenoxyethanol Safe?.

Second, ethylhexylglycerin has become a common preservative in natural and green personal and skin care products nowadays.  It is popular because it is derived from plants or grains.  Although the American Society of Contact Dermatitis added it to its list of allergens in 2014, the concerning concentration is 5% or greater.  I believe it is okay to use products with ethylhexylglycerin because it is normally used in concentrations smaller than 5%.

Surfactants In ECOS Dishwashing Liquid

There are four surfactants in ECOS Free and Clear dish soap:

• sodium coco-sulfate
• cocamidopropylamine oxide
• lauramine oxide, and
• coco betaine.

To start with, what unites these ECOS Free and Clear surfactants is the lack of long-term safety data.

Indeed, the PubMed database shows only one result for sodium coco-sulfate, a coconut-based synthetic surfactant.  According to this safety assessment, the Cosmetic Ingredient Review Panel deemed sodium coco-sulfate safe in the concentration described in the report.  However, the assessment is based on a study of an entire group of surfactants, not specifically this one. 

As for lauramine oxide, and coco betaine, the good news is that the Cosmetic Ingredient Review Panel found them non-allergenic.  In addition to that, lauramine oxide is found non-mutagenic.  Yet, there is not much research available about their long-term health effects. 

While the Cosmetic Ingredient Review Panel found cocamidopropylamine oxide generally safe in rinse-off products, it recognized that, just like cocamidopropyl betaine, it may contain allergenic impurities, including amidoamine and dimethylaminopropylamine.  If a manufacturer minimizes the impurities, the risk of reaction should be low.  (You can learn more about that and coco betaine vs. cocamidopropyl betaine in my blog post about cocamidopropyl hydroxysultaine.)

In sum, ECOS dish soap surfactants appear safe, with no evidence of carcinogenic, allergenic, or endocrine-disrupting effects. 

Is Free & Clear Dish Soap Really Safe to Use?

I appreciate the fact that ECOS soap’s formulation does not contain any ingredients that arouse serious concerns.  Indeed, ECOS Free and Clear dish soap ingredients are not on the State of California Proposition 65 List, in the Endocrine Disruption Exchange database, or on the Environment Canada Substance List.

Plus, ECOS dishwashing liquid, particularly its unscented version, contains none of the following ingredients to avoid (find out why it is best to avoid them in my Non-Toxic Dishwashing Soap Guide):

• colorants
• ethoxylated ingredients
• fragrance (including “natural fragrance”)
• harsh preservatives (benzisothiazolinone, methylisothiazolinone, methylchloroisothiazolinone, and formaldehyde-releasers)

Nevertheless, I recommend wearing gloves when washing dishes to minimize potential skin contact with any chemicals. In addition, gloves make it easier to use hotter water. It helps break down grease more effectively while reducing the amount of dish soap needed.

Conclusion: Is It Safe To Use?

Overall, I Consider The Ingredients In ECOS Dish Soap To Be Better Than Those In Most Conventional Dishwashing Soaps, As Long As You Rinse Thoroughly Afterward And Wear Gloves. 

In conclusion, while not entirely risk-free, ECOS Free & Clear dish soap (unscented) offers many advantages. First, it contains no fragrance, colorants, strong sensitizers, and ethoxylated ingredients. Second, it makes good suds and breaks down grease well, even in hard water (as opposed to saponified soaps). Third, none of the ECOS dishwashing liquid ingredients has come up in any of the following: the State of California Proposition 65 List, Endocrine Disruption Exchange database, and Environment Canada Substance List.

Moreover, the Design for the Environment, an EPA partnership program, labels ECOS cleaning products as a “safer choice” for people and the environment.  It means that they assessed the concentrations of chemicals in the formulation and deemed them safe based on the available research. (Nevertheless, I recommend wearing gloves to prevent potential absorption of chemicals with no long-term safety data into your skin.)

So, considering the alternatives, ECOS soap in its unscented version is a safer option. Also, check out my Guide To The Safest Laundry Detergents to see how ECOS laundry detergent options compare to those of other popular brands.