A different way to clean

When Sarah Herman, a 37-year-old mother living in Silver Spring, Maryland, was pregnant in 2022, she spent her free time researching products online. TikTok videos specifically were a go-to resource. “TikTok just became the place where all the information was,” she said, looking back on the pandemic. “And we were bored all the time.”

But as Herman scrolled on her phone, she encountered a multitude of supposed threats to parents and children. Some of them were familiar, but the concerns surrounding the dangers of everyday cleaning products caught her by surprise. Eventually, swayed by an influencer, she swapped out liquid laundry detergent and pods for powder and tablets.

Herman’s case is common. The cleaning industry is packed with marketing campaigns that target parents, especially mothers. And many of these scary videos about products we encounter daily aren’t entirely false. They may contain a grain of truth, or they may cite a ribbon of credible, new research that makes them easy to believe and hard to ignore. Sometimes content creators simply misinterpret scientific studies, or they amplify research with extremely small sample pools or seize on cherry-picked data without sufficient context.

Think of a classic cleaning product — say, a generations-old laundry detergent from a giant company — and there’s a good chance you’ll be able to find a stripped-down version that’s purportedly better for you, your family, and the environment.

Enter Blueland

One cleaning brand in particular has carved out a neat spot for itself in this worry-more, buy-alternatively universe: Blueland.

Blueland sells cleaning products it bills as “eco-friendly” (an unregulated term), including dishwasher detergent, laundry detergent, and surface sprays. The company’s products are mostly plastic-free, and they come in “forever” containers designed to be used and refilled repeatedly (refills arrive in cardboard pouches). The formulas do not contain PVA/PVOH.

Through its marketing and ads, Blueland has also pushed the narrative — and subsequent cause célèbre — that pod film is a major contributor to microplastics pollution. (Conveniently, Blueland happens to sell one of the only PVA/PVOH-free unit-dose detergents available.) It’s easy to see why many people would not question such a claim.


Blueland’s cleaning products, which do not contain PVA/PVOH, are mostly plastic-free, and they come in containers that are intended to be reused and refilled. Blueland

Pods look and feel like plastic wrap. When wet, they stick to surfaces and sometimes emerge largely undissolved after a laundry or dishwasher cycle. If you are told repeatedly that pods are the same as traditional plastic, why wouldn’t you believe it? Mistrust in major corporations is understandably prevalent, and it can even be fun to engage in.

Blueland was founded in 2019 by Sarah Paiji Yoo. Prior to founding Blueland, Paiji Yoo did stints at McKinsey & Company and in private equity. She attended Harvard Business School and founded two other startups before moving on to the cleaning world.

Paiji Yoo has relayed in interviews that her experience as a new mother largely drove her idea for Blueland. Worrying about plastic- and petroleum-derived products is an everyday occurrence for parents. Blueland offers alternatives.

Paiji Yoo also understands business. As people seek ways to reduce waste and eliminate unnecessary petrochemicals, such as plastic, from their lives, products like Blueland’s are growing in popularity. Wirecutter recommends laundry and dishwasher detergents made by a brand that professes they are more-sustainable choices (free of potential irritants, packaged in recyclable containers). And these products performed very well in our testing.

What’s lost in Blueland’s detergent-pods discourse, however, is PVA/PVOH’s decades-long safety record, which, up until recently, faced little dispute.

What is PVA/PVOH, anyway?

PVA/PVOH is a synthetic, water-soluble polymer that is typically derived from petroleum. When I first started testing detergents, in 2022, I wondered why PVA/PVOH was even used to begin with.

I soon discovered that detergent manufacturers had been attempting to successfully launch unit-dose detergent for decades. Unit-dose detergent is pre-measured in a ready-to-use form (like a pod, sheet, or tile), so it’s convenient, and it can curb detergent overuse, a common cause of broken cleaning appliances. Also, for those with weak grip strength or limited mobility or dexterity, unit-dose detergent can be dispensed with one hand.

Modern-day unit-dose detergent pods encase multiple types of detergents and softeners within a PVA/PVOH film. Michael Murtaugh/NYT Wirecutter

PVAH/PVOH changed the unit-dose detergent game. It shields users from caustic, hyperconcentrated doses of detergent, and it enables something called separation of chemistry, according to Jennifer Ahoni, senior communications scientist for Tide at Procter & Gamble. (Procter & Gamble manufactures pods for both laundry and dishwashers.) Separate chambers allow for multiple types of detergents and softeners to be added to a load simultaneously.

Nobel Prize winner Hermann Staudinger discovered PVA/PVOH in 1924. In the 1950s, it attracted the attention of Japanese scientists at the chemical company Kuraray. Kuraray would eventually become the parent company of MonoSol, a major PVA/PVOH manufacturer.

Scientists at Kuraray went on to incorporate the substance into a number of technologies, from better liquid-crystal displays (LCD) to printer ink that smudges less.

Today, many industries rely on PVA/PVOH, which has been embraced by regulatory authorities. The Environmental Protection Agency includes PVA/PVOH in its voluntary Safer Choice program, which helps consumers identify safer chemical products. The Food and Drug Administration has green-lighted PVA/PVOH for a number of uses, including as a food additive. And the European Food Safety Authority doesn’t have any concerns over its safety, either. The same goes for regulatory agencies in Canada.


NYT Wirecutter; source photos by AdobeStock

PVA/PVOH is shown in studies to be chemically inert, Erin Stache, a chemistry professor at Princeton University, explained. Along with its known non-toxicity and adjustable solubility, this makes PVA/PVOH ideal for a wide range of applications, from dissolvable water bottles to prosthetic limbs.

Because PVA/PVOH is a petrochemical, its environmental impact is hardly negligible, and a few scientists question the widespread acceptance that PVA/PVOH is as biodegradable as claimed.

A research paper shakes up Big Laundry

In 2021, Charles Rolsky, PhD, executive director of the Shaw Institute (an environmental research organization), published a research paper funded in part by Blueland. This paper estimated that 77% of pods’ PVA/PVOH remains in our waterways. The estimated 77% is based on previous research and a computational model designed by the authors.

This paper seems to have marked the beginning of the pods-are-plastic debate, inspiring videos and posts on social media from independent content creators. Shortly after Rolsky’s research was published, Blueland began referring to detergent pods as plastic on multiple social media channels. And it occasionally linked out to the paper itself, using it to further the company’s anti-detergent pod messaging.

But Rolsky’s paper encountered pushback from regulatory agencies and from the cleaning industry. When Blueland petitioned the EPA to remove PVA/PVOH from its Safer Choice program (at least until further testing on its health and environmental impacts was done), the EPA rejected the petition. When asked for comment on the decision, Jeffrey Landis, a media representative for the EPA, explained that only certain types of PVA/PVOH officially qualify for the Safer Choice program.

In Blueland’s petition to the EPA, it also asserted that wastewater treatment plants typically don’t treat water for the length of time required to break down PVA/PVOH, nor do they contain the correct microbes. In a written interview, Landis emphasized that the conditions simulated for biodegradation standards tests are “more conservative than real-world conditions in wastewater treatment plants.”

In its rejection of Blueland’s proposal, the EPA noted that the company’s cited research did not prove that PVA/PVOH does not biodegrade. Privately, multiple industry insiders and scientists also questioned the validity of Rolsky’s paper, noting that it failed to review dissenting literature or test its computational model, among other issues.

In 2023, the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, which published Rolsky’s paper, was removed from Web of Science, a multi-database reference tool used for scientific research. This was a major blow to the reach of a peer-reviewed journal. Although Web of Science and Clarivate (its parent company) did not specify what had led to this decision, at the time they were reviewing the quality of scientific papers in their database.

Roadblocks and rejections have not changed Blueland’s stance. In a recent email to me, Blueland founder Sarah Paiji Yoo wrote, “We remain concerned that using the term ‘biodegradable’ to describe PVA/PVOH can be misleading to consumers.”

Scaring people is easier than reassuring them

If PVA/PVOH is as safe as regulatory agencies and Big Laundry claim, why not fund a study that tests for it in drinking water or in wastewater treatment plants? I posed this question to several industry insiders, who claimed studies of this kind are inconclusive — no PVA/PVOH is being detected. This research includes yet-to-be-peer-reviewed experiments being performed by scientists at Procter & Gamble, who have been attempting to detect PVA/PVOH in waterways in Cincinnati (where the company is based) down to parts per billion, to no avail.

This would seem positive. But Joseph Zagorski, a toxicologist and assistant professor at Michigan State University who works for the Center for Research on Ingredient Safety (CRIS), explained that studies like these with “negative findings” — scientific experiments that find no significant effect — are notoriously challenging to publish. The scientific community has a general bias against them, in part because “negative findings” could easily come out of a lazily designed experiment.

Yet in Zagorski’s eyes, this leaves a gaping hole for a particular kind of product-swap marketing. Without published, peer-reviewed research showing that something is harmless — even something widely known to be safe by scientists — it’s easy to plant a seed of doubt. Especially on social media, he said, there are marketers “who weaponize that and use it as a point of sowing distrust or selling something.”

With its use of provocative imagery adjacent to published, peer-reviewed research, Blueland has mastered dramatic marketing on social media. For example, one Instagram post portrays an image of a lone laundry-detergent pod floating in a pool of breast milk — a not-so-subtle warning that breastfeeding mothers who use detergent pods are feeding their babies plastic.


A post on Blueland’s Instagram account highlights an ad the company ran suggesting that detergent pods are contributing to a proliferation of PVA/PVOH in breast milk. Blueland via Instagram

At first, I too was alarmed by this image, which (like other ads on Blueland’s social media account and website) cites a research paper: A 2022 study conducted at a research university in Rome did detect PVA/PVOH in breast milk. That’s the grain of truth, the ribbon of credibility often found in alarming social media posts.

But a close look at the 2022 breast-milk study shows some stunningly narrow results: PVA/PVOH constituted just one microparticle in 34 samples of breast milk. And the source of that lone microparticle of PVA/PVOH is unclear.


NYT Wirecutter; source photos by AdobeStock

Based on the color of the detected PVA/PVOH particle (brown), its source was most likely not detergent, which is colorless, said Matthew Vander Laan, vice president of corporate affairs and strategic planning at MonoSol, a major manufacturer of PVA/PVOH. He also explained that other analyses of the particle showed it lacked certain characteristics that are unique to detergent-grade PVA/PVOH.

MonoSol has a vested interest in keeping detergent pods on the market, but the company manufactures PVA/PVOH for many uses. MonoSol isn’t denying the presence of a microparticle of PVA/PVOH in a sample of breast milk. It’s saying that it doesn’t think it came from detergent pods.

Natalie Worthington, a certified lactation consultant who works at the Breastfeeding Center for Greater Washington, doesn’t think the source is detergent pods either. She explained that substances a nursing mother ingests or applies topically can make their way into breast milk, but that isn’t how detergent pods are used.

When I asked Worthington whether taking an extended-release pill or using cosmetics might explain PVA/PVOH’s presence in a breast-milk sample, she said it’s technically possible. It’s worth noting that some breastfeeding accessories can also contain PVA/PVOH.

In a written response, Paiji Yoo emphasized that even one breast-milk sample with a microparticle of PVA/PVOH suggests PVA/PVOH is “entering the human body and persisting in some form.” But PVA/PVOH is also a common ingredient in products that humans ingest and use topically.

Even the main author of the breast-milk study, Antonio Ragusa, an obstetrician who studies microplastics, acknowledged to me that there is currently no evidence of any detrimental effects of PVA/PVOH, stating that “the available studies show that this product [PVA/PVOH] is safe for humans.” He did, however, add that we might learn more in the future about the “long-term effects of a totally artificial substance like this.”

In that context, a whole detergent pod floating in breast milk could be seen as a largely inaccurate, and even irresponsible, depiction of the study.

“It’s less about the study itself and more about the marketing of the study,” said Paige Bellenbaum, a licensed clinical social worker and founding member of The Motherhood Center in New York City, which specializes in treating perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (known as PMADs). “It’s a breeding ground that invites new things to worry about and preys on some of our most vulnerable populations.”

The question of microplastics

In the study of plastics, there is serious concern about the potential health and environmental impacts of microplastics. But it’s a challenge to find a scientist who’s unaffiliated with a detergent company to weigh in on whether detergent pods contribute to microplastics pollution.

PVA/PVOH has been used for so long, and its water solubility is so unlike that of traditional hard plastics, to some scientists, the question of its safety and biodegradability is mundane.

Consequently, until recently there were few papers published on PVA/PVOH. That’s because, as the scientific world sees it, there are more important questions to be answered.

A chemical engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), whose research focuses on synthetic polymers (and who asked that their name be withheld for fear of professional repercussions during the government shutdown), knows a lot about the public concerns regarding plastics. When asked about PVA/PVOH, they commented that a synthetic polymer approved as safe for foods and medications is notable. From their perspective, approving a new synthetic polymer for commercial use is an enormous challenge. It requires an approval process so rigorous that at times it can “stop science,” they said, explaining that they’ve seen regulatory roadblocks force fellow plastics scientists to change course in their research.

Now, among scientists interviewed for this article, there is some quibbling with regard to the specific biodegradability of PVA/PVOH. These disagreements stem largely from regulatory tests that qualify a substance as biodegradable. Some scientists find the questioning of PVA/PVOH’s biodegradability or its potential status as a microplastic to be nonsensical.

Other scientists don’t believe the issue is that simple. USDA scientist William Hart Cooper is one of them. He shared his concerns regarding the widely accepted biodegradability standards test designed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Cooper explained that the certification tests are known to use sludge from wastewater treatment plants, which already contain microorganisms capable of breaking down PVA/PVOH. He said the results of tests using this sludge could reflect a falsely rapid level of biodegradation that doesn’t necessarily reflect scenarios where PVA/PVOH does not reach a wastewater treatment plant.

Still, Cooper eventually added, “the fact that it (PVA/PVOH) does dissolve in a pretty high water environment is a big driver for why it can degrade faster than traditional plastics.” This is a point that other scientists tend to agree with. Once PVA/PVOH is dissolved in water, it breaks into smaller molecules that are then more susceptible to being broken down by microorganisms over time. This categorizes the type of PVA/PVOH used in detergent pods as markedly different from the solid microplastics present in our environment, which take hundreds of years, if not longer, to disintegrate.

Echoing Cooper, the NREL-employed chemical engineer we interviewed also emphasized the importance of PVA/PVOH’s solubility when considering whether it is a microplastic. Their reasoning is simple: When detergent containing PVA/PVOH is used as directed — dissolved in water before disposal — it does not meet the definition of a microplastic.


NYT Wirecutter

Blueland, however, continues to go after detergent pods. Today, the company has a page dedicated to the proposal to ban detergent pods in New York City. But Douglas Auer, representative for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (the entity in charge of wastewater treatment plants), stated that the amount of pod material in the wastewater stream is expected to be “extraordinarily tiny.”

Blueland paints a different picture. In an ad on its website pertaining to the proposed ban, a magnifying glass reveals a detergent pod in a glass of drinking water. The ad cites a research study as proof of that assertion, but there’s one problem: The study has since been corrected. The PVA/PVOH that was discovered in drinking water was actually cellulose. (The study was conducted in Mexico. And MonoSol’s Vander Laan noted in our interview that MonoSol does not directly sell PVA/PVOH to any companies in Mexico, and that sales of detergent pods, compared with those of liquid and powder laundry detergent, in Mexico are “very low.”) As of this writing, the ad remains on Blueland’s website and social media channels, despite the published correction.

Science marches on

Charles Rolsky, PhD — who published a research paper on PVA/PVOH in waterways that was partially funded by Blueland — has emphasized to me on multiple occasions that his research on detergent pods is not meant to vilify them. Instead, he explained, he wants corporations to take responsibility for what they are manufacturing. (In an interview with me, Rolsky himself emphasized the safety of PVA/PVOH: “We’re not saying it’s unsafe … I think 98% gets excreted in your urine.”)

Patrick Harewood, head of research and development at Dropps — a cleaning-product company that uses PVA/PVOH in its detergents — agrees that we should keep track of PVA/PVOH as it evolves. “Environmentally friendly research was not the focus 30 years ago,” Harewood said.

Big Laundry seems to be taking the hint. In early 2025, a study executed by two employees of Procter & Gamble closely examined different polymers, including PVA/PVOH, as they dissolved using light-scattering technology. The study concluded that “PVA used in detergent films dissolves into single molecules, and does not form micro nor nanoplastics.”

Rolsky independently reached out to me about this study. In an email, he referenced a blog post, writing, “They speak to solubility as if it means the same as biodegradable when soluble just means PVA breaks apart in water.”

Solubility was, however, the focus of the study, which was designed to investigate whether PVA/PVOH meets the widely accepted scientific definition of a microplastic after it dissolves, not whether it biodegrades.

And based on information from the multiple scientists interviewed for this article, solubility is what makes PVA/PVOH a completely different synthetic polymer than traditional (or hard) plastics. Hard plastics break into tiny shards that persist in the environment, unable to be broken down by microorganisms. By contrast, dissolved PVA/PVOH can be broken down by microorganisms in the correct environment, and multiple experts say this environment exists in wastewater treatment plants.

How to choose detergents with fewer petrochemicals

If you like detergent pods but have jettisoned them due to a fear of microplastics exposure or pollution, you’ll hopefully now feel a little more comfortable using them. I use powder laundry detergent at home. But my years of research have only made me double down on the efficacy of chambered-pod dishwasher detergent.

Still, if you’d rather avoid the debate altogether, or you simply prefer to buy products with fewer petrochemicals, we’ve tested and recommend effective alternatives.

Dirty Labs Bio Enzyme Laundry Detergent Free & Clear contains biodegradable ingredients and is formulated without PVA/PVOH. And it comes in a recyclable aluminum bottle. In my testing, the Dirty Labs laundry detergent performed nearly as well as major-label offerings, and it actually beat some of them on specific stains.

You could also switch to old-fashioned powder laundry and dishwasher detergents. Our respective picks, Tide Ultra Oxi Powder Laundry Detergent and Cascade Complete Powder, are high-performing choices (and they do not contain PVA/PVOH).

Blueland’s campaigns may have caused some unnecessary worry, but there’s a silver lining: In recent years, more studies have been funded to examine the safety and potential environmental impact of PVA/PVOH. And at some point in the future, we might not be talking about PVA/PVOH at all (at least not about its use in detergents). This year, a new soluble film derived from seaweed debuted at CMS Berlin. And a nearly 100% biobased polyvinyl alcohol has been added to the USDA biopreferred database.

It’s plausible that the seeds of fear surrounding PVA/PVOH have moved us in this direction. Even scientifically dubious viral marketing campaigns can lead to innovation.

This article was edited by Ben Frumin and Ingrid Skjong.