Today I did. Dramatically and immediately. My neck and chest are still covered in red itchy hives. I had run out of our usual Ecover detergent and grabbed an old bottle of Dawn that was shoved deep in the far recesses of the kitchen cupboard. The reason we purchase the eco friendly soap is because the smell alone of most super market dish soaps gives me a terrible headache. I only needed to wash several dusty vases and hadn’t yet gone to the store this morning. I thought, what the heck, I could stand the sickly sweet odor of Dawn for a few vases. Within three minutes of washing the vases, I felt as though millions of itchy pins and needles were piercing my chest, neck, ears, and face–all areas that had been exposed to the steamy suds.
I jumped in the shower, which only helped a bit and have been putting ice on intermittently. After googling, this is what I have learned about Proctor and Gamble’s Dawn, which is one of the most toxic household products in our homes. Dawn contains Quaternium-15, which is a formaldehyde releaser*, and may cause severe dermatitis. Quaternium-15 can break down in the bottle or on the skin to release formaldehyde and its carcinogenicity is broadly accepted.
Dawn’s antibacterial dish soap label deceptively features baby seals and ducklings and the words, “1 Bottle = $1 Dollar to Save Wildlife.” Dawn donates soap to help clean up animals after oil spills, but the product itself contains the ingredient Triclosan, which is an antibacterial agent known to be harmful to animals. Triclosan has been officially declared to be toxic to aquatic life.
Have you had an allergic reaction to Dawn, or any hand dish washing soap for that matter? Please write and share your experiences with household cleaners. Thank you!
10 Dishwashing Products to Avoid Altogether
Environmental Working Group’s Hall of Shame
*Note: A formaldehyde releaser is a chemical compound that slowly releases formaldehyde.
Good Morning Gloucester 
Years ago, I had a similar reaction to Irish Spring soap…. Haven’t touched the stuff since.
I have heard that leaving some pieces of Irish Spring cut up in small trays will keep mice ‘n such away from your collector car during winter storage.
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Good idea to not go near the soap again. I’ve learned that once you have a reaction to an allergen, the reaction only worsens with subsequent exposure.
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And what is Ecover? I get a rash from all sorts of things. We avoid polyester clothing or bedding (only cotton will do), scented laundry detergent, scented dryer sheets, scented hand soap (we use Dove unscented or the Costco equivalent), but had’t thought about Dawn (which is under the sink right now). I wonder what else we’re missing?
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About once or twice a month I stop in at Whole Foods to purchase products like Ecover. The ingredients list is short and the smell is very mild; they actually list the fragrance ingredients (unlike many companies). I’ll check out the Trader Joe’s label–thanks for the suggestion. That’s what we use too, vinegar and water, for the kitchen, and it works great on glass too.
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But the duck is so cute! The race for an ever more “Improved!” product has gotten out of hand, and as a result those crazy chemical ingredients make their way into our homes. Soap should be pretty basic. We get our dish soap at Trader Joe’s. It’s pretty simple ingredient wise. We just switched to a spray bottle of diluted white vinegar for cleaning the kitchen. Works surprisingly well. Seems so common sense. But, you know, advertising.
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I agree Chris and Tom–soap should be so simple. Thinking of simple–reading about the products yesterday, Simple Green is one of the worse. I never use it because of the smell. Our noses are our best guides.
Will definitely look into Trader Joe’s–closer than Whole Foods.
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Years ago, trying to be grown-up and take care of my inherited furniture, I tried lemon pledge, and the other wood polishers. I could not breathe. Allergic to perfumes too. Take it easy with our air says the guilty wood stove lady.
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I’d rather smell wood stove smoke any day. The cleaning product aisle at the supermarkets is simply the worse.
You are probably using something that you like now but in case not:
4 parts canola oil (or olive oil)
2 parts fresh lemon juice
2 parts white distilled vinegar
Optional: a few drops of almond and/or lemon extract
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We have just started using Branch Basics and it is awesome. I even wash my face with it. So far I have only been able to find it online but check it out…
The intro pack is worth a shot!
http://www.branchbasics.com
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Thank you Nicole for the link and suggestion–the products look fantastic!!!
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what about seven products.. I have had a weird rash on my neck and I use Dawn.. Thanks for the post
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I like seven products, too anonymous>
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yes, cancer is in all of our cabinets. we in this country have made profits the most important. its very sad but its very true.take a good look at who sits on the e.p.a. thatll make u puke.
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Did not know that–I would be interested to learn more about that.
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No, but has anybody had a reaction to the newsprint in the Gloucester Daily Times??? I can read any paper, except this one, but the Times makes me sneeze, and if I touch my hands to my face after reading the GDT’s, my skin hurts!!!
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That is so weird. When I read the GDT on-line I sometimes break out into hives and if I touch myself I feel guilty! 😦
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Is that comment meant to be funny, or just douche-baggy? I thought GMG had a little tact.
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I was aiming for humor but not the first time I have been accused of lacking tact. It was more aimed at conservative GDT and not your sneezing.
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Fine, I take it back.I only subscribe for the comics and puzzles …maybe not worth the allergic reaction, just a bad habit.
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That brings up a good idea. We now have a weatherman on staff. So all we need is a cartoonist and someone to make some puzzles and GMG can snag the last dozen or so people who still try to get their daily news out of GDT.
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That definitely sounds like an allergy amynick, and they usually get worse with repeated exposure. My dad is an old newspaperman–and he is now allergic to newsprint.
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Soaps are one of the tricky one’s on the skin – the label tricks not in plain english – (Quaternium-15, which is a formaldehyde releaser), but appears to be one of the great label tricks how it’s listed. :-O
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After about five years of unbarable eczema I finally noticed a patter of it bein worse when I washed dishes. Switched to seventh generation hypo allergenic dish soap and my eczema is gone! It had been so bad I couldn’t bend my fingers and it hurt all the time! I am sooo thankful to finally have it under control!
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Yep. Me too. I now use AJAX. Its cheaper and easy on my hands.
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I had developed unbearable eczema on my hands, mainly my fingers. Couldn’t sleep, couldn’t work, could barely type. It seemed to have gone away in the last 24 hours finally after I was being super careful with soaps etc. Well, I just washed the dishes with Seventh Generation dish soap and MY sponge and I noticed that my fingers started burning again! And now itching again! I smelled the sponge…the roommates had used my sponge with their Dawn simple pleasures dish soap! Sponge goes in trash!!! Uggg…I can barely even function with this eczema let alone be comfortable! I HOPE this goes away VERY quickly!
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I’m severely allergic to Dawn dish soap. One use of it and my hands are messed up for months. I can use any other brand…I always wondered what was in Dawn that the other brands don’t have. Thanks!
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To all responders…
Thank you for this web page…mystery solved…I am at this moment washing dishes with Dawn…and again I am itchy all over…had this condition for over a year…never thought except for today that it could be the dish soap… then I just washed my face and neck with regular soap.. and the itching subsided… then it ” dawned” on me PUN INTENDED…that it might be the dish soap…. Mystery over…thanks for this article and many more regarding the same issue…
Chuckie
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Dawn (only the blue kind strangely) will cause my nose to burn inside after about 15 minutes, then I notice I can’t get the smell off my hands no matter how much I rinse them. The smell wafting up from my hands then triggers a full blown sneezing reaction that lasts for a day then I end up with plugged sinuses. The green Dawn does not do this. Overall it’s best not to buy from any BIG NAME CORPORATION. They are evil bastards, trying to kill us and the earth.
Lemon Pledge – same reaction
Some markers – same reaction
Goo Gone – same reaction
Oily smell of lawnmowers – same reaction
Wood smoke – same reaction (sneezing all day and constant nose blowing until it’s all red and sore
I suspect I may have heavy metal toxicity causing allergic responses
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Ajax does this. My nose starts itching very badly followed by my chin and skin areas around my nose. I don’t usually sneeze but the itching drives me crazy. My nose will start running, too. I have to put capsaicin cream or hot compresses on the areas to calm down the itching. I’d rather feel the burn than the itch! My boyfriend thinks it’s all in my head, that I’m using it as an excuse to not do dishes. Wrong!
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Ajax Triple Action does this to me. My fingers burn so bad I can’t feel them. I just finished doing the dishes and I can’t do anything else, including put my fingers near a hot pot of steam. They feel as if they are going to burn off my body. My mother thinks it is because I cut some hot peppers, nope! This has happened before, and I knew it was the dish detergent.
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I HAVE THE WORST REACTION TO Quaternium-15 THE DERMATOLOGIST HAS EVER SEEN!!! I am also wondering about Cascade (it has Dawn) and Bounty Paper Towels – fully stocked guess I will have to throw everything away. Maybe Charmin also. I have had dermatitis since October 2014 and it is not any better – just finished allergy tests. Also I am wondering about Pledge.
This is a real mess – I have been using these products for about 50 years.
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It happened to me last night… see, whenever I use to do dishes or wash my hands with Dawn, they would burn and itch and I just thought that’s what happened to a lot of people. But last night was a horrible experience because I went to a club that had foam party. Their use of suds: Dawn. So, there I was having fun and laughing and feeling up on people, and all the sudden my eyes start to buuuuurn. Not like an average irritant, but more so like razor blade being slashed across my eyes. My skin burned like acid and it was hard to breathe. In the bathroom, I kept sneezing up buckets of snot. My face was swollen. The pain was absolutely terrible. All the club patrons and drunks thought I was crying over a break up or something… or having a mental breakdown. It was so so so so embarassing. I woke up this morning and my eyes and face are still really read, but less pain.
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red*
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A few years ago I was washing dishes with the same type “1 bottle =$1” but the blue bottle. Shortly after finishing the dishes (with hot water) I realized my hands still felt a bit warm. After about an hour or so I went to the doctors, my hands were red and warm to the touch. The doctor first reaction was “nothing more severe then a first degree burn” , in which I had to explain I was simply washing dishes. He explained it was dermatitis (inflammation of the skin) which is an allergic reaction to an ingredient in the soap. I had never experienced this with any other soap so it was confusing.. It really worries me that they would use this stuff on animals.
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This is very insightful. At work I was my hands 100x’s a day it seems. We have dawn dish soap and antibacterial soap. My ring finger has been braking out with small blisters. They are irritating and a bite painful. When they dry up my skin cracks. Thank you for your article!
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I have a reaction to all dish soap dawn is the worst for me my mom tried making home made soap I still had the reaction with dawn and any store bought dish soaps I get these small blisters every where because once one small blister is popped the liquid inside spears and creates more blisters where ever I touch my skin with the homemade I would just get horrible hives
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I’ve been using Simply dawn for years without a problem but my husband one day came with Dawn ultra antibacterial and my hand turned red itchy and begin cracking it’s horrible.
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YES!!! I can’t use anything but 7th Generation or my NOSE turns red and itches for hours. Sometimes I get hives. It’s bizarre!
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Yes! It seems I can’t be anywhere in the vicinity of Dawn without getting a dermatitis reaction on specific areas of my right hand. Yet it seems that everyone insists on having it handily beside their kitchen sinks! Thanks for writing this article and sharing vital information about the ingredients which are causing my reactions. I’ll be on the lookout for that ingredient in other products as well because I break out sometimes when I haven’t been around Dawn.
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Joy dishwashing liquid is a killer for me! I breakout with red scaly itchy fingers and then a very deep cut in the skin like a paper cut. I bought dermal sage lotion and doesn’t happen with this brand. Joy is too strong for me.
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Thanks everyone for your posts – From the looks of what happened to me today I’ve experienced SEVERE chemical sensitivity after being exposed to a dish soap. Almost like a severe chemical overload. Having intermittent/daily hives for almost 2 years, Zyrtec everyday, moving to another state ( from high mountains to desert SW) and NOT experiencing ANY HIVES for 4 few weeks, thinking it was an organic allergy, went through allergy testing on my forearms, chemical testing on my back, Allergic to everything . SO NO scent what so ever, including hand soaps, shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, lotions, laundry soap – scent free EVERYTHING…I think it’s DISH SOAP!!!!! After not using any dish soap what so ever for month, 10:00AM used “Eos Dishmate” free and Clear from Whole Foods. (5 min of dish washing) 12:00PM Opened a package for a RTA dresser, smelling the particle board – going whew! smells like formaldehyde, opened up window, assembled the dresser 6:00PM went to a friends house who uses DAWN on her floors, 7:00PM broke out in a rash on torso, back and arms. Itchy red welts, major itch attack, slight swelling mouth and throat, index finger felt stiff & arthritic, toilet paper burning & irritation, mentally feeling agitated and ADD.
Drove home in a craze, jumped in the shower, rinsed off and went to bed.
Although I have antihistamine and Epi pen in case on stand by to give me relief. I don’t want to mask the symptoms to be able to figure out what in the $%#& the exposure was. It’s 3 AM now, most of the itching
has subsided, still have toilet paper irritation and slight throat closure. At least I’m on to something now…
A drink of filtered water and some more rest….
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I have been using dawn dish soap for the past two years, at work and recently at home. I went to the doctor after severe itching, cracking and painful swollen fingers, i had developed severe contact dermatitis all over my hands. I avoid dawn now, like the plague. It’s terrible stuff I’d rather eat off a dirty plate than use dawn soap.
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after suffering from severe itching on my hands and arm I discovered it is caused by dawn soap detergent after hand washing a sweater.I assumed it was caused by new medication but I realized I had the itching for quite some time and dawn was the only dish detergent I used.I had welts with redness and unbearable itching.It containsTrisoclan,I have to find a safe dish detergent.If anyone knows of a safe one let me know
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I just finished washing the dishes using Dawn Antibacterial dish soap. I’ve used it before but recently started getting rashes after washing dishes. I didn’t make the connection the first time it happened but this time I noticed right away, even the wet spot on my belly(I always get everytime I was dishes) was red and itchy.
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I am allergic to it. I just ended a three year battle of excema on my hands, that only responded to strong prescription steroids and only temporarily, by remembering that DAWN bothered my hands before. Yes, that was it! I bought AJAX dishwashing liquid and NO MORE BLISTERING RASH! Darn it these companies and their toxic products! I don’t know why it took me so long to look up reactions to DAWN. Thanks for confirming it and naming the toxic ingredient offending.
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Somehow I got some dawn on my underwear !?just a little spot on the rim near my belt ,by the time I got home I had painful fevered rash TT
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I got hives from this dish soap as well! All over my arms and hands!
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I have this reaction to ever dish soap in existence (I’m obviously exagerating, but I’ve tried many) and Dawn is the one I get less reaction from. It itches and burns my face even when I dont touch it, but as soon as I stop washing dishes, my skin goes back to normal. But this week specifically I washed some dishes with AJAX dish soap, and I cant stand the burning in my face. I dont know what to do, Some places of my face dont stop bleeding or itching
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When i was dishes with dawn dish-liquid they get the feeling like there are thousands of little pins on my palms. My palms also get very dry and peel using the soap but if i use AJAX grapefruit scented dish soap they just get really cold and white like i have held an ice pack for too long… Any soap suggestions?
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I have an allergic reaction every time I use ajax dish soap sadly I havent found the specific ingredient that causes it
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I came across your site after conducting a search on the allergens in Dawn Dish Liquid. It was recommended as a flea bath on a pet video that I watched so I bought it for my dog and it worked! However, I began to itch like crazy right after using it and the next day my poor dog broke out in a rash and has knots under her coat from head to toe! No wonder it kills fleas, it’s toxic! Thanks for your blog!
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wow i was so surprised why I would get dermatitis randomly on my hands, but I realized it was because of the Dawn dishwashing soap I was using. Right after using it (without gloves) I would break out with only a few spots of dermatitis. I’m glad others have experienced the same thing.
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I personally get a very painful reaction from Dawn every time I use it. within only a couple minutes of using it, my hands swell tremendously, get extremely red, and get unbelievably itchy and they sting very badly. Washing them under cold water or putting ice on my hands is the only thing that seems to help. My initial reaction (from the itchiness) was to try lotion, which was no help, so i ran and got ice because they were almost hot from how badly they stung and itched. Dawn soap apparently has some chemicals in it that are very toxic to people and animals, which is ironic since they’re trying to save animals by washing them with Dawn. But not everybody has reactions from them, so not exactly sure about the science behind it. All i know is I stay as far away from it now as possible, because even using it with hot water the steam touching my neck and chest gives me a reaction there as well.
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My mother has used Dawn in our home ever since I can remember and I’m 38. She started having her hands break out in small bumps that appear like blisters , little small dots on her skin that hurt bad like mini blisters and peel etc. they now cover her hands and get really bad. When I was 17 i started getting them on one finger and over time I noticed it was after periods of using Dawn. I recently trialed this and stopped using it for months and soon as I did again…. a breakout on that finger occurred.
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Yes I noticed last night after using soap one hand was extremely dry but ignored it but used some washing dishes this morning that same hand around wrist became itchy and small red bumps this a dishwashing liquid I do8 t buy usually and I want anymore by the way it was the blue
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My Mom used blue Dawn when making me wash dishes as a kid in the 1970’s, and I always got red itchy skin on my hands and down to my elbows, where the suds ran. When I complained, she thought I was trying to get out of doing dishes, but I really am very allergic -only to Dawn-dish soap.
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