Every year, Chuck commits to traveling to all62 counties in New York to meet with constituents.
On the heels of discovering the presence of 1,4 Dioxane—a likely carcinogen—in the Long Island water supply, on April 13th, 2017, Senator Schumer urged the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take immediate action and require companies to strip the chemical entirely from consumer and kids’ products like shampoos, shower gels and lotions. The chemical is not required to be listed on a product’s ingredients label, making it difficult for consumers to avoid. Schumer said that a cost-effective technology to ‘strip’ this chemical from everyday products actually exists. Schumer explained how removing the chemical from products would work and the support this action has received across the industry. Schumer today announced that he is filing a formal petition with the FDA, asking the agency to take action to prohibit any detectable presence of the contaminant in cosmetics. U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is also a signatory of the petition. Schumer went on to say that 1,4-Dioxane was just named by the EPA as one of just a handful of chemicals to be evaluated for potential risks to human health and the environment—all the more reason to address this chemical with the FDA now, rather than later.