Gain Original: Borax, a Banned EU Sensitizer, and a Carcinogen Contaminant, All in One Load
Three separate concerns on one label: sodium borate banned in EU consumer products, benzisothiazolinone restricted as a skin sensitizer abroad, and 1,4-dioxane hiding in the surfactant system.
Gain Original layers three distinct concerns. Sodium borate (borax) is classified a Reproductive Toxicant Category 1B in the EU and banned in EU consumer products, it’s confirmed present in the Gain formula. Benzisothiazolinone is a skin sensitizer the EU classifies under CLP and restricts; it’s listed by name on the Gain SmartLabel with no US limit. Optical brighteners coat your clothes and stay on fabric against your skin. And the ethoxylated surfactant system generates 1,4-dioxane (IARC Group 2B, EPA probable carcinogen) as an invisible manufacturing byproduct. New York forced reformulation below 1 ppm by 2024; most of the country has no rule.
The label, flagged
Water
Linear Alkylbenzene Sulfonate
anionic surfactant
Alcohol Ethoxy Sulfate (Sodium Laureth Sulfate)CAUTION
The sulfate itself just cleans, the real issue is 1,4-dioxane, a probable carcinogen created when it's made, that never appears on the label.
primary surfactant; 1,4-dioxane pathway
Alcohol Ethoxylate
nonionic surfactant; 1,4-dioxane pathway
C10-16 Alkyldimethylamine Oxide
amphoteric surfactant
Ethanolamine
pH adjuster
Propylene GlycolACTUALLY FINE
Fine on its own, the one honest caveat is that it's a penetration enhancer, so it helps everything else in the formula sink in deeper.
Ethanol
solvent
Formic Acid / Sodium Formate / Calcium Formate
pH buffer / water softener
Hydrogenated Castor Oil
emollient/stabilizer
Pentetic Acid (DTPA)ACTUALLY FINE
A chelator that keeps formulas stable. It barely penetrates skin and carries no hazard finding. Cleared, though it does nudge other ingredients in slightly.
chelating agent
Disodium Diaminostilbene DisulfonateCAUTION
Chemicals that don’t clean anything, they coat your clothes to trick your eye into seeing ‘whiter,’ stay on the fabric against your skin, and are persistent in waterways. A cosmetic illusion you wear all day.
Polyethyleneimine Ethoxylate
soil anti-redeposition polymer
FragranceCAUTION
Not a hazard in itself, but a legal black box. “Fragrance” can shield ingredients (including EU-banned ones) that you are never told are there.
Enzymes (Amylase, Protease)
stain-digesting enzymes
Sodium BorateCAUTION
The EU classifies it a reproductive toxicant and restricts it in consumer products, yet it’s in Tide and Gain here. The honest part: that classification comes from high doses; what rinses out of your laundry is low. The story is the regulatory gap, not poison in your wash.
BenzisothiazolinoneCAUTION
A preservative the EU classifies a skin sensitizer and restricts, printed by name on US Gain and Febreze labels, with no US limit. A genuine allergen, disclosed here only because the EU forced the science.
1,4-Dioxane (contaminant)CAUTION
A probable carcinogen that’s never on the label because it’s a manufacturing contaminant, not an ingredient, found in these detergents above New York’s legal limit before 2024 reformulation. The only US rule that touches it is one state’s.
manufacturing byproduct, not listed on label
Colorants (Liquitint Green)
synthetic colorant
Source: P&G SmartLabel UPC 00037000127833 + SkinSafe + WhatsinProducts. View label. Tap any flagged ingredient for the evidence.
What to use instead
The fix isn’t complicated: a fragrance-free or fully-disclosed alternative, with the ingredients flagged on this label designed out, closes these gaps at once. We pick the ones worth your money.
See cleaner picks →Editorial analysis of the publicly listed label and regulatory/peer-reviewed sources. Not medical advice, not affiliated with the brand. Verdicts are evidence-graded, we flag what the data flags and clear what it clears.