Advocates Urge Assembly to Protect New Yorkers from Toxic Chemicals Used in Everyday Products
The Assembly Has Three Short Weeks to Send Bills that Ban Toxics in Personal Care and Consumer Products to the Governor
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 12, 2026
CONTACT: Jasmine Phillip, Clean+Healthy, jasmine@cleanhealthyny.org, 518-354-3263
Albany, NY: Today, JustGreen Partnership advocates took to the Capitol to sound the alarm on New York State Assembly’s lack of action on the Beauty Justice Act S.2057B (Webb - Passed on April 21, 2026) / A.2054B (Glick) and the Ban on PFAS in Consumer Products S.9073A (Harckham - Passed on February 10, 2026) / A.7738A (Glick). There are only three short weeks left for the Assembly to act on these two common sense bills that will remove toxic ingredients in personal care and consumer products we all use every day.
Together, the Ban on PFAS in Consumer Products and the Beauty Justice Act are an important step forward toward protecting public health, worker safety, and the environment from toxic chemicals. The Senate passed the bills with strong bipartisan support. The coalition reiterated its call for Assemblymember Heastie to bring these bills on the floor and send them to the Governor for her signature.
“New Yorkers should not have to worry that the products they use on their bodies and in their homes contain toxic chemicals linked to cancer, infertility, asthma, and other harmful outcomes,” said Environmental Conservation Committee Chair, Assemblymember Glick. “I am heartened that so many of my colleagues have joined me in cosponsoring the Beauty Justice act and the ban of PFAS in consumer products bill but the time has come for the House to act. The Assembly must now do its job and pass these bills before the rapidly approaching end of session.”
Companies intentionally use toxic ingredients that can cause or contribute to cancers, reproductive harm, respiratory illness, and more in the products consumers use on our bodies and in our homes everyday. When these toxic products get washed down the drain, they end up in our environment, polluting our groundwater and farming lands.
“The United States lags behind other countries in regulating toxic chemicals in cosmetics. New York must assert itself as a leader and step up to protect our residents. I’m proud to sponsor the Beauty Justice Act, which bans toxic ingredients from personal care products like soap or shampoo,” said Senator Lea Webb. “These ingredients, including lead, mercury, formaldehyde, PFAS, parabens, and asbestos, are harmful to both our physical and our environmental health. Currently, companies are not required to disclose the full list of ingredients in personal care products. People can’t protect themselves from what they can’t see. This bill is a long-overdue step towards protecting our health and advancing environmental justice efforts in New York.”
The Beauty Justice Act will ban companies from using toxic chemicals including formaldehyde, parabens, phthalates, PFAS, lead, mercury, and more from personal care products. These chemicals cause irreversible damage like infertility, asthma, and cancer. Because of racist beauty standards and strategic marketing, Black women and femme-identifying people of color have an even higher amount of harm with toxic chemicals in their personal care products.
“The time when companies and their CEOs intentionally poison our bodies and our environment must come to an end. The Senate has done their part to ‘turn off the tap’ on toxic chemicals in our personal care and consumer products, and it’s time for the Assembly to do the same,” said Sophia Longsworth, Toxics Policy Director at Clean+Healthy and co-leader of the JustGreen Partnership. “Speaker Heastie can’t let another session pass without giving the Assembly the opportunity to vote on these bills. He must give our elected officials the chance to show their constituents that they value people over corporate profits. By not calling these bipartisan supported bills for a vote, he's making it loud and clear that New Yorker’s health does not matter.”
This bill has passed the Senate for the past two years, and is currently in the Ways & Means Committee in the Assembly.
“New Yorkers deserve to be protected from toxic ingredients added to their personal care products - especially women of color, who face the greatest threat,” said Briana Carbajal, State Policy Manager at WE ACT for Environmental Justice. “And given the fact that the Trump administration has attempted to roll back nearly every federal environmental protection, it is more important than ever that New York steps up to protect its residents from exposure to toxic ingredients. The State Senate has already passed this bill, we are urging the Assembly to do the same.”
Research continues to show that PFAS “forever chemicals” are harmful to our health and environment. These forever chemicals have been known to cause reproductive harm, endocrine disruption, cancer, and more. The Ban on PFAS in Consumer Products gets PFAS out of everyday products like rugs, textiles, cleaning supplies, fabric treatments, ski waxes, cookware, dental floss, and architectural paints.
“PFAS are among the most toxic and harmful chemicals known to humankind,” said Environmental Conservation Committee, Chair Senator Harckham. “The Trump administration's attack on PFAS regulations will only increase the risk posed by these contaminants The New York State Senate has moved decisively to pass these critical bills banning these forever chemicals from cosmetics and consumer products. We must now finalize these protections into law to ensure that the health of New Yorkers always comes first."
As of now, 17 states like Maine, Minnesota, Colorado, and Vermont have stepped up to protect their consumers by banning more chemicals in products than the federal government. New York could be the next state to set a new standard for the rest of the country to ensure that safe products are made available to consumers. The Ban on PFAS in Consumer Products has passed the Senate and is in the Codes Committee in the Assembly.
“There is no good reason that the bill to phase PFAS out of everyday goods like cookware and dental floss has languished in the Assembly for three years. Getting rid of the unnecessary uses of PFAS in consumer products is not new since the state has already successfully implemented a phase out of PFAS in clothing, paper-based packing, menstrual products, and rugs,” said Kate Donovan, Director, Northeast Environmental Health at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). "Passing A.7738A is essential to get toxic chemicals out of New Yorkers' homes and help alleviate the drinking water contamination that is costing the state billions in clean up and deferred health care costs.”
Advocates asked the Assembly whether they will choose to surrender to the chemical industry who pay their lobbyists millions of dollars to lie about how much harm their products cause; or to the people that voted them into office to protect them. The NYS Assembly must follow in their footsteps to take action on protecting New Yorker’s health.
PARTNER QUOTE SHEET:
"Everyone deserves to feel safe using products that touch their bodies every day — yet dangerous, toxic chemicals are still lurking in beauty and personal care items, especially those marketed to women of color and used in professional salons. In the absence of federal action, New York must step up to protect its residents. It’s past time to hold this industry accountable — because beauty should never come at the cost of our health." said Debra Erenberg, Co-Executive Director at Weaving Voices for Health & Justice.
“We are experiencing a chronic disease crisis in New York state linked to rising rates of chronic disease. This rise can be linked to toxic chemicals in environments and the most common way that people encounter these chemicals in their daily lives is through the personal care and other types of consumer products they use.” Said Charles Moon, MD FAAP, Environmental Health Policy Coordinator for the New York State American Academy of Pediatrics. “We don’t have any treatments for PFAS or these chemicals. We can’t remove them from the body once they are there. We must prevent exposures by removing them from products, which is why the NYS AAP supports this public health legislation and urges the legislature to pass it without delay!”
“PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ found in consumer products are poisoning our bodies, drinking water, and environment. It is critical that we stop the continued exposure to the public from these toxics in our cookware, textiles, dental floss and more. Passing this vital legislation will benefit every New Yorker and that is why the bill has immense public support. The time to act is now; every year the legislature delays is another year of adverse health and environmental impacts,” said Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director for Citizens Campaign for the Environment (CCE). “The Senate has already passed this commonsense legislation with broad bipartisan support, and we are counting on the Assembly to follow suit.”
“There is simply no reason New Yorkers should have to tolerate the use of toxic forever chemicals in our products – especially in the ones we put on our bodies or use to cook food for our families,” said Alisha Deen-Steindler, Legislative Advocate, New York League of Conservation Voters “The good news is, two NYLCV Superbills that would address this public health threat – the Beauty Justice Act and the Ban on PFAS in Consumer Products – are ready for action in the Assembly. Speaker Heastie and the Assembly have done a lot in recent years to protect New Yorkers from chemicals and we urge them to continue that leadership by passing these measures without delay.”
New York’s businesses and economy are threatened by PFAS and other toxic chemicals that accumulate in our waterways impacting our food system, tourism, and other key sectors,” said Bob Rossi, Executive Director of the New York Sustainable Business Council. “Many businesses have adapted to consumer demand with affordable products that are safer and profitable. Our business community is ready, and we call for prompt passage of these two bills that will safeguard our people and environment as well as our businesses and economy.
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The JustGreen Partnership is an 19 year old collaboration of environmental justice, environmental health, environmental health affected, children’s, and business organization working for environmental health and justice for New York’s people and communities. Learn more here.
