After using the Dawn Ultra 2X as a spray on my daylilies I still noticed active aphid infestation. As a follow-up, I'll also mention that as I worked, I found that DU2X had a very strong odor (for me, medicinal and highly perfumed) and I had a small reaction to it: the airborne spray must have entered my nose and mouth as I worked because I could taste its distinct flavor for about three hours afterward (even lunch did not mute it). I also noticed that the labels did not detail even one ingredient:
Prompted by my experience, and curious about the ingredients, I visited the P&G website. The short list from the first link includes Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Sodium Laureth Sulfate (petroleums) which create soap bubbles. There is ongoing research indicating these chemical surficants are a respiratory irritant, toxic to aquatic organisms, and not readily biodegradable in the environment, among other things. I could go on to detail the other synthetic chemicals that are in the product, and in the list of ingredients P&G uses in its perfumes, but I'm already prompted to use up what I have on my dishes instead, and move on to purchasing certified organic insecticides since they are readily available and equivalently priced. For reference, here are the Dawn Ultra links for ingredients:
List of Ingredients
http://www.pg.com/productsafet...
Material Safety Data Sheet
http://www.pg.com/productsafet...
Perfume List of Ingredients
http://www.pgproductsafety.com...
I'm working on looking more closely at differences between otherwise equivalent organic insecticides, but am going to simplify things with the idea that, if a product is listed by the Organic Materials Review Institute as fully approved as organic, I will take it at face value. Unless I learn that there are documented significant concerns, I'll refer to the Review Institute as an authority, and not do the time consuming work of researching and learning about ingredients on my own. That seems like a fair trade-off for getting one step closer to using organic products that are safe and effective on daylilies.
Organic Materials Review Institute
