Industry takes aim at state chemical disclosure laws

Abstract

Makers of cleaning products sold in California soon will disclose their ingredients on labels and online, the result of a law the state enacted in October. New York, meanwhile, is on the cusp of imposing similar requirements. Some U.S. chemical producers fear the requirements in the two jurisdictions won’t be identical and will cause headaches for producers and retailers alike. They also worry about protection of companies’ proprietary formulas. Now the American Chemistry Council, the largest organization representing U.S. chemical manufacturers, is joining with agriculture interests and other businesses to ask Congress to set national standards for state or local labeling or ingredient disclosure policies, the association’s CEO, Calvin M. Dooley, says. Beyond ingredient disclosure policies like those in California and New York, the industry is worried about states’ lists of chemicals deemed toxic. States with such lists, such as Maine, Minnesota, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington, require that manufacturers of