1,4-Dioxane Litigation
Fast Facts
CHEMICAL Synthetic solvent stabilizer used primarily in 1,1,1-trichloroethane( TCA)
ENVIRONMENTAL PROFILE Highly persistent and mobile Leaches readily into groundwater Detected in ~ 22 % of U. S. public water systems
According to Levin Papantonio attorney Ned McWilliams, that same pattern is playing out again, this time with 1,4-dioxane.
McWilliams is part of a consortium of environmental mass tort attorneys that has formed to address this emerging litigation. Drawing directly from the litigation team that helped shape PFAS litigation from its earliest days through trial, the consortium includes McWilliams, as well as fellow Levin Papantonio attorney Wes Bowden, along with Michael London, Gary Douglas, and Rebecca Newman of Douglas & London. Together, they bring decades of experience litigating water contamination cases, including leadership roles, bellwether trial work, and verdicts that helped define the PFAS litigation landscape.
HEALTH CLASSIFICATION EPA:“ Likely carcinogenic to humans” EPA drinking water health reference level: 0.35 ppb
PRIMARY DEFENDANTS Dow Chemical Company( dominant U. S. producer) Additional defendants: Legacy Vulcan, Vibrantz
REGULATORY STATUS 18 states regulate 1,4-dioxane in drinking water 2024 EPA TSCA Risk Evaluation: finds unreasonable risk to human health
PLAINTIFFS Public Water Systems seeking abatement and cost recovery
CORE LIABILITY THEORY Failure to warn MSDS omissions Improper disposal guidance Undisclosed presence in stabilized TCA
DAMAGES Advanced oxidation treatment systems Multi-million-dollar capital costs Decades of operation and maintenance
LITIGATION STATUS Active public water system cases in NJ state courts ~ 30 consolidated cases pending in EDNY
“ This is the same group of lawyers that’ s been working on PFAS for over ten years,” McWilliams said, explaining that some of the attorneys’ PFAS clients started asking about 1,4-dioxane.“ We started digging into it, doing our homework, doing our research, we saw many parallels to what we experienced in the early days of PFAS,” McWilliams added.
1,4-DIOXANE LITIGATION Who Should Pay Attention
• Law firms with relationships with municipalities, water utilities, or public agencies
• Attorneys seeking to refer high-value environmental cases without building litigation infrastructure from scratch
A Familiar Pattern, Detected Early
Like PFAS, 1,4-dioxane is a persistent compound that does not naturally break down in the environment.
“ Dioxane doesn’ t go away,” McWilliams said.“ Every molecule that was ever made is still floating around Planet Earth somewhere. So even