What does New York require of a cleaning product?

New York's main rule for cleaners limits 1,4-dioxane, a contaminant left behind when some surfactants are made. Since December 31, 2023, no household cleansing product may be sold in the state with more than 1 part per million (ppm) of it, down from 2 ppm at the end of 2022 [1]. The last waivers expired December 30, 2025. If the state asks, you must hand over a compliance evaluation within 30 days and keep its records for three years after you last make the product [2]. New York's ingredient disclosure program was struck down in 2019 and has not been reissued as a rule. Pesticidal products are registered with the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

Which products the dioxane limit reaches

The statute, Environmental Conservation Law (ECL) 35-0103, defines a household cleansing product as one that contains a surfactant and is used mainly for domestic or commercial cleaning, excluding foods, drugs, cosmetics, pesticides and certain industrial cleaners as the commissioner sets by rule [3]. DEC's regulation (subpart 352-1) puts it as products "containing a surfactant as a wetting or dirt-emulsifying agent, used primarily for domestic or commercial cleaning," and excludes foods, drugs, cosmetics and personal care products, products primarily labeled as pesticides under ECL Article 33, and cleaning products used primarily in industrial manufacturing, production or assembly [2].

Work through it in order:

Janitorial and commercial cleaners are covered: the definition says "domestic or commercial" [2][3].

The limits and how they changed

The 2019 law, bill S4389B, added subdivisions 4 to 7 to ECL 35-0105 [1]:

DEC says no waiver is effective after December 30, 2025, so every product must now comply [2]. Its 2025 review found the allowed trace concentrations "sufficiently protective," so the 1 ppm figure stands [2]. DEC adopted the implementing regulations on September 18, 2024, after a proposal on December 6, 2023 and a hearing on February 6, 2024 [2].

Where 1,4-dioxane comes from

DEC explains that 1,4-dioxane forms during production of detergents, foaming agents and emulsifiers, and is a byproduct, so it never appears on an ingredient label [2]. DEC repeats FDA's indicator terms for ingredients that may carry it: PEG compounds, polyethylene or polyethylene glycol, polyoxyethylene, "-eth-" and "-oxynol-," and adds sodium laureth sulfate and ingredients with "xynol," "ceteareth" or "oleth" [2]. DEC also says these terms do not confirm presence and products must be tested [2]. The surfactant chemistry is on surfactants.

A product made only from true soap, washing soda and water carries none of DEC's indicator terms on its ingredient list. It is still a household cleansing product if it contains a surfactant, so you still need a compliance evaluation if DEC asks, even if every number in it is zero.

Building a compliance evaluation

Regulation section 352-1.5 requires the manufacturer of every covered product sold in New York to evaluate it and to submit the evaluation within 30 days if DEC requests it [2]. There are two routes.

Route 1: dilution calculation

DEC lists what the file must contain [2]:

1. The names of the ingredients that cause 1,4-dioxane to be present in the finished product.
2. A dated test result showing the 1,4-dioxane concentration in each of those ingredients.
3. The laboratory and test method used.
4. Each ingredient's percentage of the finished product.
5. The dilution calculation.
6. An attestation that no other ingredient contains 1,4-dioxane.

The arithmetic is a weighted sum. For each ingredient that carries 1,4-dioxane, multiply its tested concentration in ppm by its share of the finished product by weight (as a decimal: 5 percent is 0.05). Add the results across those ingredients and compare the total with 1 ppm. Use your suppliers' dated test results and your own batch sheet; there is no default figure to fill in.

Route 2: finished product testing

Test the finished product by the method in section 352-1.6 [2]. The method itself is not described here; ask the laboratory whether it runs the method DEC specifies.

What does not count

DEC is explicit that safety data sheets and letters saying an ingredient contains no 1,4-dioxane do not prove compliance on their own. They may accompany other documentation [2]. If your formula varies, evaluate the version expected to produce the highest 1,4-dioxane level [2].

Records

Keep the evaluation, including laboratory results, for three years after the date of last production of the product [2]. The wider record system is on records and how long to keep them, and asking suppliers for dated test results is on sourcing ingredients.

Ingredient disclosure: annulled in 2019, rulemaking pending

New York's disclosure program rests on ECL Article 35 and 6 NYCRR Part 659, which let DEC require manufacturers of cleaning products sold in the state to "furnish information regarding such products in a form prescribed by the Commissioner" [4].

• June 6, 2018. DEC issued a program policy on household cleansing product information disclosure [4].
• August 27, 2019. In Household and Commercial Products Association v New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Supreme Court, Albany County (Ryba, J.) held that the policy was a rule adopted without following the State Administrative Procedure Act and declared that "the disclosure program is hereby invalidated in its entirety" [5]. The court read the "shall include, but shall not be limited to" wording in 6 NYCRR 659.6 as allowing DEC to request voluntary expansions of disclosure rather than impose mandatory ones [5].
• Now. DEC is working on amendments to Part 659 and held a public meeting; it "will hold a formal public comment period at a later date once it officially proposes the regulations" [4]. Topics raised include nonfunctional ingredients, confidential information, updates and the definition of manufacturer [4].

As of October 22, 2026, DEC's page shows no proposed rule [4]. There is no New York ingredient disclosure duty to meet today beyond what Part 659 already says. California's rule, the one in force, is on selling cleaning products in California.

Phosphorus

ECL 35-0103 defines phosphorus for Article 35 as "elemental phosphorus" [3]. Section 35-0105, in its current text, sets three tiers [8]. Household cleansing products in general may contain phosphorus compounds only at "such trace concentrations as may be authorized by the commissioner by regulation" (subdivision 2(a)(1)). Products used in dishwashers may not contain phosphorus "in excess of five-tenths percent by weight expressed as phosphorus" (2(a)(2)). Products for food and beverage processing equipment and dairy equipment may carry up to 8.7 percent (2(a)(3)). Subdivision 2(b) adds that no owner, occupant or person in control of a commercial establishment may possess or use products over those limits, so the dishwasher cap reaches restaurant machines too [8]. How these compare with other states, and how to count phosphorus in a formula, is on phosphorus limits for detergents.

Pesticides and 25(b) products

Any product with a germ or pest claim needs New York registration with DEC on top of EPA registration. ISSA's 2019 survey listed DEC's fee at $600 per product for registrants with sales up to $3.5 million or $620 otherwise, plus processing fees, on a two-year cycle [6]. Those figures are seven years old; confirm them with DEC, and ask DEC directly how it treats 25(b) products. EPA says states "may require registration under state laws" [7]. The fifty-state table is on state pesticide and 25(b) registration.

Who to ask

DEC's Division of Materials Management, Bureau of Waste Reduction and Recycling, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233, 518-402-8706, handles both the 1,4-dioxane limits and the disclosure program [2][4]. This page describes the law as read on October 22, 2026, and is not legal advice.

Getting dioxane numbers from your suppliers

The evaluation is only as good as the dated test result for each ethoxylated ingredient. Surfactants explains which surfactant families carry 1,4-dioxane and which do not, so you know which suppliers to ask first.

References

1. New York State Senate, S4389B (2019), amending Environmental Conservation Law 35-0105 and adding 37-0115, bill text, read October 22, 2026. https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/bills/2019/S4389B
2. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, *1,4-Dioxane Limits for Household Cleansing, Personal Care and Cosmetic Products*, undated (references a November 2025 waiver list), read October 22, 2026. https://dec.ny.gov/environmental-protection/help-for-businesses/household-personal-cosmetic-dioxane-limits
3. New York Environmental Conservation Law section 35-0103, Definitions, via New York Public Law (text last modified September 22, 2014; page verified August 15, 2026), read October 22, 2026. https://newyork.public.law/laws/n.y._environmental_conservation_law_section_35-0103
4. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, *Household Cleansing Product Information Disclosure Program*, undated, read October 22, 2026. https://dec.ny.gov/environmental-protection/help-for-businesses/household-cleansing-product-information-disclosure-program
5. Supreme Court of New York, Albany County, *Household and Commercial Products Association v New York State Department of Environmental Conservation*, 2019 NY Slip Op 29287, 65 Misc 3d 832, decided August 27, 2019. https://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2019/2019_29287.htm
6. ISSA, *2019 State Pesticide Registration Survey*, 2019, read October 22, 2026. https://korea.issa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019-Pesticide-Registration-Surveyv2.pdf
7. U.S. EPA, *Conditions for Minimum Risk Pesticides*, last updated August 31, 2026. https://www.epa.gov/node/64449
8. New York Environmental Conservation Law section 35-0105, via New York Public Law (text last modified January 7, 2022), read October 22, 2026. https://newyork.public.law/laws/n.y._environmental_conservation_law_section_35-0105