In December 2019, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill that would “prohibit the sale of cosmetic or cleaning products containing 1,4-dioxane.” The bill came as a result of contaminated drinking water (1,4-dioxane) in Long Island. It will be enacted by the end of 2022, banning sales of products with trace concentrations of 2 ppm or higher, and, by the end of 2023, 1 ppm or higher. For reference, according to the Citizens Campaign test results, detergents from brands like Tide, Gain, Persil, All, and Arm & Hammer all have 1,4-dioxane levels above the limit. Although the detergent companies aren’t actively putting this contaminant into their detergents, it’s unfortunately a byproduct of their formulation process. Surfactant expert Brian Grady told us, “You’re going to see significant changes in [the detergent space] because, to my knowledge, almost all of the detergents on the market today won’t pass the [new] standards.” He mentioned a few possible consequences of the new bill. “There are processes out there that can remove 1,4-dioxane, at a high cost, so the cost of detergent will go up. [The detergent companies] could try to reformulate, to get below the standard, which will also raise the cost. Or some type of innovation would occur involving reducing or replacing SLES, the ingredient that causes the dioxane byproduct.”
