Persil the ""work of the washboard""—saving consumers time and rendering the historic method of "sun-bleaching" (by laying clothes out in the sun) unnecessary. Persil was the first commercially available self-activated laundry detergent (combining bleach with the detergent). The invention of Persil was a significant breakthrough. The name, "Persil", is derived from two of the original ingredients, sodium perborate and silicate. The original name was deemed unsuitable as an international brand because it is hard to pronounce in some languages. Coincidentally, "persil" is the French word for the herb, parsley. Persil is sold in powder, liquid detergent, liquid capsule, liqui-gel, and tablet
Laundry detergent their esters (linalyl acetate), aromatic aldehydes (helional, hexyl cinnamaldehyde, lilial) and synthetic musks (galaxolide). Phosphates in detergent became an environmental concern in the 1950s and the subject of bans in later years. Phosphates make laundry cleaner but also cause eutrophication, particularly with poor wastewater treatment. A recent academic study of fragranced laundry products found "more than 25 VOCs emitted from dryer vents, with the highest concentrations of acetaldehyde, acetone, and ethanol. Seven of these VOCs are classified as hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) and two as carcinogenic HAPs (acetaldehyde and benzene)". The EEC Directive 73/404/EEC stipulates an average biodegradability of at