Sodium carbonate peroxide is a mineral-derived salt that usually appears in the form of a white crystalline powder. We use this ingredient as an oxidizing agent in some of our high-performance products for stain removal and improved cleaning.

Sodium carbonate peroxide can be produced by reacting sodium carbonate (washing soda) with hydrogen peroxide. It's commonly used in cleaning products as a bleach activator, contributing oxygen to help remove colour pigments, soils and stains from dirty dishes or laundry, restoring them to their normal oxidized state.

A risk assessment by the Human & Environmental Risk Assessment (HERA) Project reviewed the health and environmental impact of sodium carbonate peroxide in household detergents, and found it to have no adverse effects on human health or the aquatic ecosystem. It can be an irritant if exposed to skin or eyes in high concentrations, and appropriate care should be taken when handling. Assessments show this ingredient breaks down into components during the wash (sodium carbonate and hydrogen peroxide) which are then effectively neutralised and degraded during wastewater treatment processes. It's also listed by the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) as having low potential to enter the environment from household cleaning products, with no evidence of bioaccumulation or environmental persistence from this use.

Other names: C₂H₆Na₄O₁₂, Sodium Percarbonate, Peroxy Sodium Carbonate

Chemical class: Inorganic Salts

REFERENCES

HERA. (2002). Human & Environmental Risk Assessment on ingredients of Household Cleaning Products: Sodium percarbonate (CAS No. 15630-89-4). https://www.heraproject.com/files/6-f-04-hera%20percarbonate%20full%20web%20wd.pdf

European Chemicals Agency (2022). Disodium carbonate, compound with hydrogen peroxide (2:3). EC number: 239-707-6 | CAS number: 15630-89-4. https://echa.europa.eu/registration-dossier/-/registered-dossier/15960/5/1

National Center for Biotechnology Information (2022). PubChem Compound Summary for CID 159762, Sodium percarbonate. https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Sodium-percarbonate