Chapter 11: The supporting cast · Part 6: Stabilisers
Calcium chloride
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The worst fact: the dry (anhydrous) salt "dissolves violently in water with liberation of much heat". In a liquid detergent it's already dissolved.
Why brands use it: a little calcium keeps enzymes in shape so they last on the shelf.
Take care if: it gets in your eyes. Australia classes it as "Causes serious eye irritation".
Comes from: natural brines, as a by-product of soda ash making, or limestone with hydrochloric acid.
Myth check: "It's road salt, so it's harsh": the same chemical is an approved food additive (E509).
Contaminants: nil.
Fair to say: the US EPA's Safer Choice list rates it a green circle for enzyme stabilising.
Correct as of November 2026. What the badges mean
Sources
- Safe Work Australia. Hazardous Chemical Information System (HCIS): classifications for calcium chloride, boric acid, borax, and for N-vinylpyrrolidone, vinyl acetate, ethylene oxide, 1,4-dioxane, hydrazine, aniline, p-toluidine, styrene, chloromethane, carbon monoxide and octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4).
- European Union. Regulation (EC) 1333/2008 Annex V; Regulation (EU) 231/2012 (food additive specifications); Regulation (EU) 2022/63 (E171); Regulation (EU) 1297/2014 (detergent capsules); Regulation (EC) 790/2009 and Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/849 (borates); Regulation (EU) 109/2012; Regulation (EU) 2023/2055 (microplastics); Regulation (EU) 2024/1328 (D4, D5, D6); Regulation (EC) 1223/2009 (cosmetics) Annexes III and IV.
- US EPA. Denial of TSCA petition on polyvinyl alcohol, 88 FR (21 April 2023); Safer Choice Ingredient List.
- HSDB (US National Library of Medicine), via PubChem: manufacturing, use and impurity data.
- ILO-WHO International Chemical Safety Card 1184: calcium chloride (anhydrous).
The full source list is at the end of Chapter 11.