He said five years ago the sea was washing away 1in (2.5cm) of land every year.

BBC: Guernsey landowner battles coastal erosion

Washing-machine sales began to grow rapidly five years after they went on sale in Germany, but 11 years in France.

ECONOMIST: New products

In a 1999 study in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, washing dogs with allergen-reducing shampoo for five minutes cut the dogs' allergen levels by about 85 percent.

CNN: What to do if you're allergic to your pet

The team conducted a series of experiments in which known quantities of five such chemicals were mixed with water and passed through a dishwasher, a washing machine, a shower head inside a shower stall or a tap in a bath, all inside a specially designed chamber.

ECONOMIST: Indoor pollution