Activists Call For Crackdown Of Dioxane In Drinking Water

New York activists are pushing state officials to crack down on the likely carcinogen 1,4 dioxane.

Members of Citizens Campaign for the Environment (CCE) held a news conference this month imploring state officials to take a stricter approach to regulating the contaminant in drinking water, a solvent “used as a stabilizer for industrial chemicals and in personal care products such as detergent,” according to Long Island Business News.

Activists say the contaminant “has been detected at levels exceeding the Environmental Protection Agency’s health reference guideline for cancer risk, set at .35 micrograms per liter, in 72 percent of Long Island public water systems tested for the contaminant,” Patch reported.

“Of the 4,400 water supply systems tested by the EPA nationwide, the highest levels of the contaminant were found on Long Island,” the report said, citing activists.

The activists met with the staff of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo asking for a safe drinking water standard for dioxane, the report said.

"1,4-dioxane is among the unregulated contaminants identified in EPA’s Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, and recent studies have confirmed the presence of this emerging contaminant in our drinking water and its potential adverse health impacts," the group said in a letter to Cuomo.

Dioxane "was historically used as an industrial solvent stabilizer, but today it can be found in up to 46 percent of personal care products, including detergents, dishwashing soaps, shampoos, cosmetics, deodorants, and body lotions. The chemical is also used in the production of varnishes, paints, and inks. It has also been found in food via packaging materials or pesticide residues," the letter said.

The letter said dioxane is a byproduct of ethoxylation, an ingredient processing method used for items such as lotions.

"Though 1,4-dioxane can easily be removed from products before they are sold, its widespread presence indicates that many manufacturers fail to take this simple step," the letter said.

How can dioxane be treated? The CCE said traditional sewage treatment processes do not treat dioxane.

The U.S. EPA points to the difficulty of treating the contaminant, as well. Dioxane in water is tricky to address, according to the U.S. EPA in its handbook on how to handle the contaminant. The handbook notes that 1,4-dioxane is “fully miscible in water.”

“As a hydrophilic contaminant, it is not, therefore, amenable to the conventional ex situ treatment technologies used for chlorinated solvents. Successful remedial technologies must take into account the challenging chemical and physical properties unique to 1,4-dioxane,” it continued.

The handbook cites a total of 15 projects where 1,4-dioxane was treated in groundwater. Twelve of the project used ex situ advanced oxidation processes.

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