A traceable, substance-specific recalculation of the EU Ecolabel DID-list toxicity and degradation factors

The Detergent Ingredients Database (DID list) underpins the Critical Dilution Volume used to assess the aquatic toxicity of detergents and cosmetics under the European Union Ecolabel. Each of its entries is a generic ingredient name carrying a single acute and a single chronic toxicity factor and one degradation factor, published without the underlying studies; these values are mandatory for a listed ingredient, whereas an unlisted ingredient requires a submitted toxicity and biodegradation dossier. We recompute the toxicity and degradation factors of the 2023 DID list database for individual substances, following the official calculation method, from primary aquatic-ecotoxicity test records-the European Environmental Footprint freshwater dataset and a curated aquatic-toxicology database, experimental results only-and from biodegradation rate constants, in a fully traceable workflow that records every test with its reference. Because one generic name maps to one or more substances, a range of factor values lies behind a single entry. Of the 265 entries, 136 (fifty-one percent) can be independently recomputed from current public data. Where the database used genuine chronic data, the recalculation reproduces the official chronic factor (median ratio 0.92); but for about half of comparable entries the official DID list chronic factor equals the acute factor for lack of chronic data, and there the recalculation supplies a genuine chronic value that is typically about six times higher, hence less stringent. Beyond the list, the method assigns factors to 4,093 additional substances. We discuss the implications for the transparency of the Ecolabel criteria, for extending the list, and for harmonising the Ecolabel and Product Environmental Footprint toxicity scores within the European Union's One Substance, One Assessment agenda.