Much Ado About Trace Chemicals

The home of the LIE, the Amityville Horror and a host of serial killers like David Berkowitz and Joel Rifkin, insists it is grappling with a new terror, 1,4-dioxane in cosmetics and household products. Long Island Assemblyman Steven Englebright (D-Setauket) introduced a bill that would prohibit cleaning and personal care products from containing the notorious chemical byproduct—except in trace amounts. Of course, personal care and cleaning products already only contain trace amounts of the material. Not to be outdone, State Sen. Todd Kaminsky (D-Long Beach) introduced a similar ban in the State Senate.


Will this legislation improve the health of Long Islanders? We doubt it. After all, trace amounts of 1,4-dioxane don't present nearly the health hazard than those toxic fumes belched from combustion engines that New Yorkers gasp over every day as they speed toward bridges to escape this 118-mile semi-suburban spit of land just outside New York City.