Who knew dish soap could get so controversial? Lately, dish soap -- especially "green" dish soap -- has been all over the news. Here's why, and why you should care:

Turns out, that many self-described green cleaners contain 1,4-Dioxane, a probable human carcinogen created as a byproduct of petrochemicals used in a process to soften detergents. That finding became public in March, courtesy of Organic Consumers Association, a consumer advocacy group that tested 100 “green” products to find that 47 had detectable levels of 1,4-dioxane. Of them, dishwashing liquids were the one of the most likely products to contain the probable carcinogen. In defense, many green companies said they haven't yet figured out a way to make effective dishwashing liquid that doesn't contain 1,4-dioxane -- but that they'll work on eliminating the stuff.

Since even green dishwashing liquids contain 1,4-dioxane, the one way to avoid the stuff is to make homemade liquid dish detergent, which Karina of the Tiny Choices blog gave a whirl. Concocting the substance from scratch isn't easy, however. Karina's planning to learn from her mistakes: "I think I’m going to have to try again, but next time, I’ll use a different kind of soap, a larger pot, and maybe mix in more water right at the beginning to thin it out."

Meanwhile, if -- like Katharine Wroth of Grist.org -- you're okay with the small amounts of 1,4-dioxane in green dish cleaners, read her test of six green dish soaps to find out which one works best for you. The test has all the details on the cost, the eco-claims, and the cleaning capabilities of brands ranging from ecover to LifeTree. Read the article to find out which product wins out!

^{Photo by Beatrice Murch via Flickr}