Environmental group pushes for manufacturers to remove harmful 1,4-Dioxane from products

Many products we have in our homes have a potentially cancer-causing ingredient hidden inside, according to environmentalists.
1,4-Dioxane will not be found on the list of ingredients in these products. That is because it is a byproduct and by law, manufacturers do not have to list it.
The New York State Pollution Prevention Institute recently tested 313 household and personal care products for 1,4-Dioxane, and found many of the products contained levels higher than the state standard of 1 part per billion.
"It causes kidney cancer, liver cancer, breast cancer and other damages to the immune system," said Adrienne Esposito, of Citizens Campaign for the Environment.
Esposito says the findings are in line with test they conducted back in 2019. The group pushed for the law that bans the chemical in products.
During a virtual meeting Wednesday held by the state on the topic, the group called on the state to make manufacturers comply with the timeline of removing it.
Long Island water suppliers are scrambling to install costly filtration systems to remove it from drinking water in order to comply with the state's new drinking water standards.
"It's cheaper and safer to get it out of our products so it doesn't get into our drinking water in the first place," said Esposito.
Citizens Campaign for the Environment put out a map that shows where there are high levels of 1,4-Dioxane in Long Island's drinking water.