Foam, that in our minds we usually associate to detergents, is not always welcome: in some products foam is useful, in others it would be counterproductive. For example: in washing-up foam helps to make detergent clearly visible to the user; in dishwashing by machine, on the other hand, foam must be very little not to damage electronic parts.
Moreover, inside the machine the water is beaten, sprayed and pumped with pressure, at relatively high temperature, so the possibility that foam rises is even higher than in washing by hand. These issues arise in some professional uses too, as with high pressure water jet machines or with professional dishwashers.
Lot of detergents producers solve this issue adding anti-foaming agents to their products; these agents are usually petrochemical oils or, more often, silicones. Even some ecologic certificates allow them to be added, clarifying that “their use is necessary” to make low-foaming detergents.
The question is the following: is anti-foaming agents impact on environment someway concerning? First of all, they are are not biodegradable, so they accumulate in the environment and in aquifers. Secondly, although someone (not scientifically) defines silicones like “liquid stone”, they are not environmentally safe: they can spread upon aquifers walls and through biological membranes (as plants roots), so that water fails to pass through.
Bensos does not add any anti-foaming agent to their products: R&D division found new technical solutions with low-foaming ingredients, so that anti-foaming agents become unuseful.
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