Chapter 2: Other surfactants · Part 2: Cationic surfactants (fabric softeners)
DEEDMAC
- Made from a hazardous chemical
The worst fact: 99% of company reports to the EU class it as "Causes skin irritation" and "Causes serious eye irritation" (company data, not an official classification). It was measured in the treated water leaving 41 US sewage plants at 32.4 to 2,660 ng/L.
Why brands use it: it's one of the three main esterquats in European softeners.
Take care if: it could splash in your eyes.
Comes from: tallow fatty acids joined to N-methyldiethanolamine, then quaternised with methyl chloride. Australia classes methyl chloride as "Suspected of causing cancer". That doesn't mean it's in the product, but it's not a great starting point for something you clean with.
Myth check: no common myth we could source.
Contaminants: nil.
Fair to say: it's readily biodegradable, a study by its maker found "negligible ecologic risk", and the US EPA's Safer Choice list rates it a green circle.
Correct as of November 2026. What the badges mean
Sources
- Safe Work Australia. Hazardous Chemical Information System (HCIS): classifications for alcohol ethoxylates, C10-12 alcohol EO/PO, cocamidopropyl betaine, nonylphenol, DODMAC, and for ethylene oxide, propylene oxide, dimethyl sulfate, methyl chloride, benzyl chloride, epichlorohydrin, DMAPA, monochloroacetic acid and 1,4-dioxane.
- HSDB (US National Library of Medicine), via PubChem, including Gosselin, Clinical Toxicology of Commercial Products (1984); ECHA C&L Inventory (company notifications, via PubChem); JECFA, sodium oleate (via PubChem).
- HERA. Alcohol ethoxylates (2009); esterquats (environment 2008, human health 2009); cocamidopropyl betaine (2005); fatty acid salts (2002).
- DEEDMAC exposure in US wastewater treatment plants (2019), PMID 31153071.
The full source list is at the end of Chapter 2.