Sen. Charles Schumer holds up a McDonald's cheeseburger during a news conference in Manhattan on Feb. 9, 2014. (credit: Glenn Schuck/1010 WINS) Sen. Charles Schumer holds up a McDonald's cheeseburger during a news conference in Manhattan on Feb. 9, 2014. (credit: Glenn Schuck/1010 WINS)

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration should ban a chemical used to make yoga mats from also being used in food, Sen. Charles Schumer said Sunday.

Standing outside McDonald’s on West 34th Street and 10th Avenue in Manhattan and holding a cheeseburger, Schumer, D-N.Y., also demanded fast-food chains stop using azodicarbonamide.

The chemical is used to make rubbery products such as yoga mats and the soles of shoes. But some fast-food restaurants add azodicarbonamide — used as a bleaching agent and to make dough more elastic — to their breads.