Product Safety Update: Changes to California Prop 65
By: Kirsten Alcock, Product Safety Manager
California Prop 65 is Changing!
California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act was enacted in 1986. It is commonly referred to as California Prop 65 or Prop 65 for short. The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, OEHHA, administers the Proposition 65 program. It is intended to help Californians make informed decisions about protecting themselves from chemicals that are known to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm.
Proposition 65 requires the State of California to publish a list of chemicals known to cause cancer or birth defects or other reproductive harm. The Prop 65 list, which must be updated at least once a year, has grown to include approximately over 800 chemicals since it was first published in 1987. A link to the list can be found here.
Changes to the Prop 65 were published earlier this year. As of August 30, 2018, the mechanism by which manufacturers and businesses provide “clear and reasonable warning” will be changing. Some of these changes include but are not limited to:
- Disclosure of at least one chemical of concern
- A Warning Symbol, in addition to a signal word of “WARNING”, is required
- Hyperlinks to www.p65warnings.ca.gov must be incorporated onto most labels
- Specific Phrases must be used for conveying carcinogen, reproductive, and developmental toxicants
Should you wish to see the full regulation, please follow this link.
OEHHA has also published a side-by-side comparison to show the differences between the old and new regulations.
Please follow this link for more information.
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