Amd §37-0117, En Con L (as proposed in S.8291-A & A.8630-A)
Provides that no person shall sell or offer for sale any cosmetic product or personal care product containing mercury, other than in trace amounts allowed by the food and drug administration as unavoidable under conditions of good manufacturing practice or necessary for use as a preservative in the absence of an effective and safe nonmercurial preservative substitute.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A619
SPONSOR: Reyes TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to the
sale of cosmetic products containing trace amounts of mercury
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this bill is to provide technical amendments to Chapter
754 of the Laws of 2022.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
This bill would authorize the Department of Environmental Conservation
to align the prohibition on the use of mercury in cosmetics with exist-
ing federal standards.
JUSTIFICATION:
When absorbed in the skin, mercury can cause kidney damage, skin rashes,
psychosis, skin discoloration, and peripheral neuropathy. In order to
protect New Yorkers from this potential harm the Legislature passed
Chapter 754 of the Laws of 2022, which prohibits mercury in cosmetic
products and personal care products. While there is no federal
preemption on the issue, the Executive requested technical amendments to
align the law with existing federal standards.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
This is a new bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the same date and in the same manner as a
chapter of the laws of 2022 amending the environmental conservation law
relating to prohibiting cosmetic products and personal care products
that contain mercury, as proposed in the legislative bills numbers S.
8291-A and A. 8630-A, takes effect.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
619
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 10, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. REYES -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Environmental Conservation
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to the
sale of cosmetic products containing trace amounts of mercury
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 7 of section 37-0117 of the environmental
2 conservation law, as amended by chapter 44 of the laws of 2020, is
3 amended to read as follows:
4 7. A manufacturer of a cosmetic product or personal care product,
5 otherwise subject to the requirements of subdivisions three and four of
6 this section, may apply to the department for a one-year waiver from
7 such requirements for a specific cosmetic product or personal care prod-
8 uct, and upon such proof that the manufacturer has taken steps to reduce
9 the presence of 1,4-dioxane in that product and is unable to comply with
10 the requirements of subdivisions three and four of this section. There-
11 after, a manufacturer may apply for one additional one-year waiver for
12 such product, upon its satisfaction of such similar proof.
13 § 2. Subdivision 8 of section 37-0117 of the environmental conserva-
14 tion law, as added by a chapter of the laws of 2022 amending the envi-
15 ronmental conservation law relating to prohibiting cosmetic products and
16 personal care products that contain mercury, as proposed in legislative
17 bills numbers S. 8291-A and A. 8630-A, is amended to read as follows:
18 8. No person shall sell or offer for sale any cosmetic product or
19 personal care product containing mercury, other than in trace amounts
20 identified by the department, in consultation with the department of
21 health, in regulations. Any such trace amounts shall be consistent with
22 the permissible concentrations of trace amounts allowed by the food and
23 drug administration as (a) unavoidable under conditions of good manufac-
24 turing practice, or (b) necessary for use as a preservative in the
25 absence of an effective and safe nonmercurial preservative substitute in
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04313-01-3
A. 619 2
1 cosmetic products intended for use only in the area of the eye. For the
2 purposes of this subdivision "mercury" shall mean elemental mercury Hg,
3 mercuric iodide, mercury oxide, mercurous chloride, ethyl mercury,
4 phenyl mercuric salts, ammoniated mercury, amide chloride of mercury,
5 mercury sulfide or cinnabaris, or mercury iodide.
6 § 3. This act shall take effect on the same date and in the same
7 manner as a chapter of the laws of 2022 amending the environmental
8 conservation law relating to prohibiting cosmetic products and personal
9 care products that contain mercury, as proposed in legislative bills
10 numbers S. 8291-A and A. 8630-A, takes effect.
