The California Prop 65 list is continuously growing and maintained in the Enviropass’ product compliance form that you are free to use while gathering Cal Prop 65 data from your supply chain. Further information on California Proposition 65 is available on p65warnings.gov.
Similar to RoHS and REACH, Enviropass recommends a documentary approach with risk assessments of the supply chain to do California Proposition 65 testing and provide the right warning notice for California residents.
This approach offers the best money value and avoids numerous and expensive chemical analyses.
Enviropass can assist you in both:
Request your free consultation and see how Enviropass can assist you!
The California Proposition 65, also called Cal Prop 65, Cali Prop 65 or simply Prop 65, stems from an old regulation called the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986.
The idea behind this act is that every Californian citizen has the right to know his exposure to hazardous chemicals. This approach is similar to the EU REACH SVHC list.
The primary target of the Cali Prop 65 is to protect drinking water from a list of chemicals, listed by the state of California.
The California Proposition 65 list is regularly maintained and updated by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA). Hundreds of chemicals have been listed over the years.
Hazardous chemicals, known to contribute to cancer, birth defects, or reproductive harm, are used in many everyday consumer products. Think of adhesives, painting, solvent, some plastics, some drugs… even coffee! All of these products may contain hazardous substances.
Here are some examples of substances in the Prop 65 list:
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Many Prop 65 substances are used in electrical and electronic equipment and other everyday products. Compounds of cadmium, cobalt, mercury, nickel, lead or hexavalent chromium are examples of these types of substances.
The manufacturers, producers, importers, suppliers, or distributors are typically responsible for the Prop 65 implementation.
The retailers in California also have responsibilities, under certain conditions.
The Proposition 65 law – the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 – applies to you if you either have customers of consumer products or own a business of 10 employees or more in California.
The Cal Prop 65 law requires providers to notify the consumer whether a product contains at least one chemical known to cause health issues (cancer, birth defects, etc.).
Some of the chemicals in the Prop 65 list have no significant risk levels (NSRLs), or maximum allowable dose levels (MADLs). In this case, you don’t have to notify the consumer if you can demonstrate that all of the present chemicals are below their NSRLs or MADLs levels. To do so, toxicology studies may be necessary.
If any substance in the Prop 65 list is contained, or likely to be present in your products, workplace, and or a public area, such as a hotel, then a specific warning is requested.
Three types of exposures require a warning:
For online sales, the warning information must appear on both the internet and on the consumer product itself.
Different warning methods are available, like:
As of August 2018, a new so-called safe harbor warning applies before exposure to chemicals, with obligations to:
The Prop 65 warning can take various forms depending on the risks of exposure caused by the substances present in a product, which are either:
It is also possible to provide a short-form warning.
The short-form warning is a valid option, under certain conditions, which are currently being revised. Indeed, the OEHHA is currently proposing an amendment to Article 6, Clear and Reasonable Warnings Short-form Warnings, to control the use of the Prop 65 short-form notice.
If approved, the amendment will include the following four conditions to the short-form safe harbor warning:
Either you decide to use the short-form Prop 65 warning or the regular one, it may have to be provided in a language other than English, like Spanish.
It is recommended to verify with your supply chain whether any chemical in the Prop 65 list is present in your product, especially for parts that can be in direct contact with the consumer under normal conditions of use, such as:
A risk assessment can be necessary, to confirm the substance(s) on the Prop 65 list that may have to be declared.
If you sell a product without a safe harbor warning that does contain a chemical in the Prop 65 list, then you expose your company to lawsuits.
Some law firms are specialized in this type of lawsuit, and major distributors, such as Amazon, Costco, Pharmacy, Target, and Walmart have had to face legal proceedings.
As a result, the Prop 65 settlement payments go up over the years, to reach a total of tens of millions of dollars.
The image of non-compliant companies can also be severely damaged.
Other requirements may specifically apply to your products, like California RoHS for electrical and electronic household equipment.
Enviropass is here to assist you in this endeavor. Ask Enviropass for a free consultation!
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