3. Substance characterisation
Alcohol ethoxylates (AE) are a very widely used class of non-ionic surfactants.
Significant quantities of AE are converted to alcohol ethoxysulphates (AES) with the
remaining AE used primarily in household laundry detergents. AE have many
desirable characteristics such as rapid biodegradation, low to moderate foaming
ability, superior cleaning of man-made fibres and tolerance of water hardness. AE are
also used in lesser quantities in household cleaners, institutional and industrial
cleaners, cosmetics, agriculture, and in textile, paper, oil and other process industries.
Uses in household cleaning products, relevant to the HERA program of risk
assessments, include laundry detergents, hand dishwashing liquids, and various hard
surface cleaners. Chapter 5.1.1 details the household cleaning applications and typical
finished product concentration ranges of all AEs used in household products