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The Houston-based company makes popular brands such as Rain-X, Slick 50, Black Magic and Gumout - products that enhance the appearance and performance of vehicles.

But typical car maintenance products "unfortunately are less than benign to the environment," Luke Metzger, director of Environment Texas, an environmental research and policy center, said in an email.

"After applying them to your car, any chemicals used wash from the pavement to storm drains where they enter directly into streams, rivers and lakes," Metzger wrote, noting that environmentally friendlier products are available.