Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Chemical pollution · United States · 2011–2024

1,4-dioxane in Tide: Prop 65 settlement and New York limit

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
What the record lacks: 1 none on record · 11 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

1,4-dioxane forms as a by-product when laundry-detergent surfactants are made, and does not appear on labels. The EPA revised its risk determination in November 2024; a 2011 test of Tide, a 2013 California settlement and New York limits are reported but not yet verified.

November 2024EPA's revised determination on 1,4-dioxane in laundry and dish detergents
Consumer use not counted as contributing to unreasonable risk; manufacturing and drain-down to drinking-water sources counted. No risk management rule proposed.

Status As of 12 October 2026: the EPA revised its risk determination in November 2024 and had not proposed a risk management rule; the 2011 test, the 2013 settlement and the New York limits are reported but not independently verified.

What?
1,4-dioxane, a by-product of ethoxylation, is present in laundry and dish detergents; the EPA revised its risk determination in November 2024.
Where?
United States.
When?
EPA revision in November 2024. A 2011 test, a 2013 settlement and New York limits for 2022 and 2023 are reported but not verified.
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
None on record
Harmed
  • Workers and communities around ethoxylation factories — Counted by the EPA as an exposure route contributing to unreasonable risk.
Why?
Not stated in the sources read.
How?
1,4-dioxane forms when ethylene oxide is attached to a surfactant; it is not listed on labels.
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

1,4-dioxane is not added to laundry detergent. It forms as a by-product of ethoxylation, in which ethylene oxide is attached to a surfactant. It does not appear on the label and becomes visible only when someone tests for it. The research record says that impurities such as 1,4-dioxane do not enter the label under any of the labelling regimes it reviewed.

In November 2024 the EPA revised its risk determination. Exposure of consumers using the product was not counted as contributing to an unreasonable risk. Two other routes were counted: manufacturing by ethoxylation, for workers and for communities around factories, and the flow of dish and laundry detergent down the drain, contaminating surface waters that serve as drinking-water sources. A risk management rule had not been proposed.

The sources reviewed also report a 2011 civil-society test of Tide, a 2013 California Proposition 65 settlement, and New York limits in 2022 and 2023. These items come from cited pages that could not be checked and are listed under what is unknown.

  1. 2024November: EPA revises its risk determination on 1,4-dioxane; manufacturing and drain-down to drinking-water sources counted, consumer use not counted; no risk management rule proposed

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

    Recorded

    • 1,4-dioxane is a by-product of ethoxylation, not an ingredient; it does not appear on the label.
    • In the labelling regimes reviewed, impurities such as 1,4-dioxane do not enter the label. New York has a limit on 1,4-dioxane but no label requirement.
    • EPA, November 2024: consumer use not counted as contributing to unreasonable risk; ethoxylation manufacturing and detergent flowing down the drain to drinking-water source waters counted; no risk management rule proposed.

    Who gained

    Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

    Reached nature or the ground

    Not published
    No figure published.

    Gained elsewhere

    Not totalled
    Currency: USD · Window: 2011 to 2024. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

    Responses on record

    • epa (2024-11): Revised its risk determination in November 2024: consumer use not counted as contributing to unreasonable risk; manufacturing by ethoxylation and detergent drain-down to drinking-water sources counted; no risk management rule proposed.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What nature saw

    Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

    Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

    Drain-down of detergent to drinking-water source waters
    Counted
    EPA revised risk determination, November 2024
    Ethoxylation manufacturing (workers and nearby communities)
    Counted
    EPA revised risk determination, November 2024
    Consumer use of the product
    Not counted
    EPA revised risk determination, November 2024

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Figures

    • Insufficient Concentration ppm: Reported 1,4-dioxane in Tide Free & Gentle (Women's Voices for the Earth test); secondary report only.
    • Insufficient Concentration ppm: Reported 1,4-dioxane in Tide Original; secondary report only.
    • Insufficient Settlement target ppm: Reported level agreed in the California Proposition 65 settlement; secondary report only.
    • Insufficient Limit ppm: Reported New York limit at the end of 2022; secondary report only.
    • Insufficient Limit ppm: Reported New York limit at the end of 2023; secondary report only.
    • Insufficient Systems detected pct: Reported UCMR3 detection in drinking-water systems; 7.02% above 0.35 micrograms per litre; secondary report only.

    Record

    • None on record A risk management rule has not been proposed, according to the November 2024 EPA record.
    • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: a 2011 test by Women's Voices for the Earth that found 89 parts per million of 1,4-dioxane in Tide Free & Gentle and 63 parts per million in Tide Original.
    • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: that Procter & Gamble first said the levels were completely safe, and that in 2013 a court-approved settlement under California's Proposition 65 had it reduce the level to below 25 parts per million.
    • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: a New York limit of 2 parts per million at the end of 2022 and 1 part per million at the end of 2023, with up to two exemptions of two years each for manufacturers.
    • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: that the third Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (2013 to 2015) detected 1,4-dioxane in 21.9% of drinking-water systems, with 7.02% above 0.35 micrograms per litre.
    • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: a release of about 2,600 pounds of ethylene oxide on 25 November 2018 from the Croda plant at Atlas Point, Delaware, with 1,4-dioxane also found in the soil and groundwater.

    Did the harm stop?

    No stop is recorded. The EPA had not proposed a risk management rule as of its November 2024 revision.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources read. The EPA counted workers and communities around ethoxylation factories, and drinking-water sources receiving detergent drain-down, as routes contributing to unreasonable risk.

    Sources

    Voices on record: ✓ Company or project✓ Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Company or project

    1. In New York, 1,4-dioxane is out of bounds
      Colonial Chemical and Univar ·

    Government and regulators

    Press and investigations

    1. The truth behind New York's laundry detergent ban
      Maron Marvel (law firm analysis) ·

    Communities and civil society

    1. Tide reformulates detergents to reduce cancer-causing chemical
      Women's Voices for the Earth · 2013-01-25

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Terms used on this page

    Institutions

    EPA
    The US Environmental Protection Agency.

    Bonds and banking

    Delaware, Guernsey, Cayman Islands
    Jurisdictions widely used to register companies, funds and accounts for legal, confidentiality and tax reasons.

    Science and environment

    Groundwater
    Water held underground in soil and rock, drawn through wells.
    PFOA (C8) and PFAS
    PFAS are a large family of human-made chemicals that persist in the environment and the body; PFOA, also called C8, is one of them and was used to make Teflon.