What exactly is PVOH?
The outside of ecyo's pods is PVOH. There is a lot of false information out there and the name itself doesn't help. So let us help clear a few things up.
Firstly. It's not all created equal. What is the difference between PVA and PVOH?
PVA stands for Polyvinyl Alcohol also known as PVOH. PVOH can be manufactured in a variety of ways and with a variety of purposes. Uses range from more durable purposes such as fishing lines, papermaking, and textiles to pharmaceuticals including “artificial tears” and contact lens lubricants. Each is formulated differently and as a result will have different properties. PVOH used in detergent products such as Liquid Laundry pods are specifically designed to be soluble and biodegradable in water, which may not be the case for other PVOH formulations.
Biodegrading of PVOH
Due to its structural similarity to biological materials such as cellulose, PVOH has the potential for complete biodegradation, especially PVOH grades that are highly water-soluble. As PVOH has a very broad diversity of applications, this unique class of polymers covers a large range of polymer chemistry and chain architecture (e. g. DH and DP, but also polymer backbone modifications). Within this range, the narrower subset of PVOH materials that is suitable for use as soluble film for detergent capsules, meets the criteria for biodegradability.
The above is from the latest research on biodegrading of PVOH https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/tsd-2020-2326/html
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Questions and potential misperceptions have arisen about the potential contribution of liquid detergent capsules to the environmental microplastics issue. The film of these detergents is highly water soluble, also in cold water, as it must fully dissolve during every type of washing process. Water-soluble grades of polyvinyl alcohol, the most commonly used detergent capsule film material, are ...
www.degruyter.com
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Is PVOH a Microplastic?
No. PVOH used in liquid detergent pods does not meet any of the definitions of microplastic:(1) it is not micro- or nano-sized; (2) it is highly water-soluble; and (3) it is biodegradable in the environmental conditions where it is discharged.
Is PVOH safe?
PVOH is suitable for human ingestion in food and ingestion by the Federal Drug Association. It is starting to be used to deliver medicines.
Why do we use PVOH ?
PVOH offers a delivery system to significantly reduce our reliability on plastic - (known to not degrade for hundreds of years and when it does results in micro plastics). It also enables less water to be used, and less water to be transported - thus reducing transportation pollution. For us, it enables us to create really high quality concentrates that we know work very well (and very quickly) without the use of plastic or the need to ship water around the world.
In a nutshell. It doesn't last in the environment and it doesn't harm us or anyone else.
More reading on PVOH from a non-biased resource: