Is there any effect on environment?

Sodium percarbonate is a bleaching agent used in various cleaning products. Also called sodium carbonate peroxyhydrate (PCS).And sodium percarbonate is really easy to use for cleaning, stain removal, and laundry.

Sodium-percarbonate rapidly dissolves in water and dissociates into sodium, carbonate and hydrogen peroxide. Acute ecotoxicity tests with fish and water fleas revealed LC50 values of 71 and 4.9 mg/l. The available data show that the observed aquatic toxicity of sodium percarbonate can be explained by the formation of hydrogen peroxide. Because sodium percarbonate dissociates into sodium, carbonate and hydrogen peroxide, the environmental risk assessment is based on the risk assessment of the individual components. After use of the household cleaning product, the spent washing liquor (containing the sodium percarbonate) will be disposed via the drain. Neither hydrogen peroxide nor carbonate will be discharged to aquatic ecosystems. Hydrogen peroxide will degraded in the biological waste water treatment plant, while carbonate will be neutralised by the biological waste water treatment plant to bicarbonate. Sodium has a low toxicity and the emitted amount of sodium is relatively low compared to background concentrations and therefore the emitted amount of sodium will not have an effect on the aquatic organisms of the receiving water. Based on the available data, the use of Sodium-percarbonatein household cleaning products has no adverse effect on the aquatic ecosystem.

However, Of all the ingredients in laundry detergent, sodium and phosphate are the most harmeful to soil and waterways. Due to the bad publicity surrounding phosphate and its affect on marine life, most laundry detergents limit the use of phosphate.