In conjunction with Earth Week, Governor Cuomo has announced a new initiative to require manufacturers of household cleaning products to disclose all products’ chemical ingredients on their websites. New York is the first state in the country to make this requirement for household cleaning products. Additionally, the Department of Environmental Conservation has proposed new restrictions on perchloroethylene, a carcinogenic chemical used in dry cleaning and other dry cleaning solvents. Both of these initiatives promote human health and environmental purity; their coincidence with Earth Week celebrates New York’s commitment to a healthy environment.
The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is overseeing The Household Cleaning Product Information Disclosure Program. The new program will require the disclosure of all ingredients and chemicals in cleaning products, as well as their weight makeup of the product. The aim of the program is to empower consumers, so they can know exactly what they are buying. Consumers will be more free to choose products that don’t carry health or environmental risks. You can view of a draft of the new program here. The DEC is targeting another chemical specifically: perchloroethylene. The DEC proposed new regulations on dry cleaning facilities that operate using perchloroethylene, as it is both a human health risk and an environmental hazard. If the proposed regulations are passed, dry cleaning solvent products and their use in dry cleaning operations would contain less of this chemical that the National Academy of Sciences calls “a likely carcinogen.”
Identifying and regulating harmful environmental practices are steps toward a cleaner, safer New York. We applaud Governor Cuomo and the Department of Environmental Conservation’s actions to make this a reality. Stay tuned for more news from NYLCV on chemical disclosure in common consumer products.