California Proposition 65

What is it and why should I care?

Well, let’s first start with what Proposition 65 is and then include a brief history on it. Proposition 65 or otherwise known as Prop 65 is a way for Californians to be better informed on the products or services they buy that may contain harmful chemicals.

The people of California overwhelming voted for Prop 65 with 63 percent voting in favor of it. Prop 65 became law in November of 1986. The official name of Prop 65 is “Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986”. Over the past three decades that have passed since becoming law. The list of chemicals has swelled to approximately 900 chemicals and continues to grow each year. The chemicals listed are known to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm.

You can search for the chemicals on our website at chemicalregulations.com or at https://oehha.ca.gov/proposition-65/proposition-65-list

Why should you care?

If you work for or run a company that sells products in California. Or perhaps your product is somehow used in the end product which is sold in California. Then you have to comply with California Proposition 65 regulations. I’m not even going to dive into the possibility that your business is located in California and open to the the public. Then you have to add signs at all of your public access points letting your customers know of any potential hazards. Like the fish served may contain Mercury.

For businesses that do not have a physical presence in California. Let’s look at two possible businesses. One is a manufacturer of an end product that is sold in California. And the other one is chemical distributor that sells chemicals to the manufacturer or a supplier. The manufacturer will have to do their due diligence. All the components will have to be known and were any chemicals used to make that component will have to be documented.

This leads us to the down stream partners that either manufacture the components or supply products like paint or decals that are then used for the end product. The end product manufacturer will have to get a letter of declaration from their suppliers. The suppliers will have to go down stream to their suppliers and so on. Until they either end up at the chemical supplier or find out that no chemicals were used to make a product. Still a letter of declaration has to be provided back up the stream.

The chemical distributor just has to provide their customer with a letter of declaration that none of their products sold to the supplier are listed or that chemical x, y, z is found in California’s Prop 65 list and whether it causes cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm. Here is a sample letter if a chemical is not found in Prop 65.

Your company name
Company Address
Company City, State Zip
Company Phone number

Customer Name
Address
City, State Zip

[Todays Date]

Subject: California Proposition 65

Dear Customer Representative,

The intent of this letter is to provide a compliance statement regarding California’s Proposition 65 chemical list which has been updated on [most recent date of update]. Chemical X is not a component in any of the chemicals [Company Name] sells to [Customer Name]. Should you have any further questions or concerns please feel free to contact me directly.

Thank you for your continued business.

Sincerely,

[signature]

[Your name]
[Your Position]

Here is another example letter where a chemical is found in Prop 65.

Your company name
Company Address
Company City, State Zip
Company Phone number


Customer Name
Address
City, State Zip


[Todays Date]
Subject: California Proposition 65


Dear Customer Representative,

The intent of this letter is to provide a compliance statement in regard to California’s Proposition 65 which has been updated on [Date]. The new substances added to the list are not found in any of the products sold by [Company Name] to [Customer Name]. There is however one substance 1-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) CAS# 872-50-4 that you currently purchase from us. This products toxicity is Developmental.

Should you have any further questions or concerns please feel free to contact me directly.

Sincerely,
[signature]
[Your name]
[Your Position]

Chemical distributors don’t get off that easily. If the chemical distributor also distributes/ships the chemicals to California then they also have include the warning information on their product labels along with all of the other information required by OSHA and DOT.

Recent Changes!

The labeling requirements of Proposition 65 have recently changed as to what is required on a product label. Now the warning symbol, warning message, and a link to the warnings website is required on the label. There are also font size requirements that have to be followed depending on what the item is. Further information on label requirements can be found here https://www.p65warnings.ca.gov/sample-warnings-and-translations-businesses. This can be a daunting task for anyone to figure out exactly what is required. Having a good outside consultant that can aid in this endeavor can be a life saver and a money saver.

Below is how a sample label would look like for chemicals listed as both a carcinogen and a reproductive toxicant.

 WARNING: This product can expose you to chemicals including [name of one or more chemicals], which is [are] known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.  For more information go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov.

https://www.p65warnings.ca.gov/warning-translations-businesses/chemicals-listed-both-carcinogen-and-reproductive-toxicant

My thoughts!

In my day to day position I get about 20 to 40 requests for letters of declaration on the chemicals we sell to our customers each year. Each customer has a number of products that they purchase from us. Meaning each product has to be checked every time Prop 65 chemical list is updated annually. If a chemical is made up of multiple components then all of those components have to be checked. It is a tedious process that has to be completed to keep our customers happy and their customers happy.

I hope you were able to learn something from this and that the links provided sent you on the right path to chemical regulations enlightenment.

Thanks for reading and visiting.

Sebastian M.