Suffolk County Lawmakers OK Bill Requiring Dry Cleaners To List Chemicals They Use
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The Suffolk County Legislature has passed a bill that aims to make dry cleaners greener.
On Wednesday, lawmakers passed a bill that will require the establishments to display a chart listing the chemicals used and how harmful the chemicals are to the human body.
"Patrons will know which solvent they used and how that solvent rates on a chart of environmental risk factors and health risk factors," said Majority Leader Kara Hahn (D-Setauket), who introduced the legislation. "At the time of the inspection each year, our health department will check and make sure that they're posting the signs, and that the sign indicates the proper solvent that the dry cleaner actually uses."
The measure also calls for the Department of Health to rank each dry cleaning chemical based on both human and environmental impacts and provide that information online for consumers.
"This is about educating the public,"Hahn told 1010 WINS. "This has the potential to move the marketplace in a better, cleaner, greener and healthier direction."
Other legislation recently passed also prohibits dry cleaners from using the word "organic" because Hahn said there are no regulations establishing what is an organic cleaning business, WCBS 880's Sophia Hall reported.
"It's a very misleading word, it has not been approved by the FTC and we will not allow that word to be used when it comes to dry cleaning," Hahn said.
The bill must still be signed by Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone before it becomes law.
