If you’re a company that does business in California – that means if you sell online, or sell or distribute product in California, it’s important to be heedful of Proposition 65 changes that go into effect August 30, 2018. Prop 65 was enacted to protect California’s drinking water sources from being contaminated with chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm, and requires businesses to inform Californians about exposures to such chemicals by providing “clear and reasonable” warnings before knowingly and intentionally exposing anyone to a listed chemical.
The law is broad, and includes a loooooooong list of chemicals, many of which are likely contained in products sold by you or your clients. Among other things, the upcoming changes stipulate (and change) what language and warning items must be contained on products with chemicals already on the list as potential carcinogens. In addition, businesses with products that aren’t clearly labeled must now provide signs or shelf tags as directed. Manufacturers must also notify retailers with these warnings on bulk shipments.
According to the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, “New OEHHA regulations, adopted in August 2016 and that will take full effect in August 2018, change the safe harbor warnings which are deemed to comply with the law in several important ways. For example, the new warnings for consumer products will say the product “can expose you to” a Proposition 65 chemical rather than saying the product “contains” the chemical.” Labels must name at least one chemical prompting the warning, provide the Internet address for OEHHA’s warnings (www.P65Warnings.ca.gov) and include a triangular warning symbol.
For more information, see https://www.p65warnings.ca.gov/new-proposition-65-warnings or https://oehha.ca.gov/proposition-65/law/proposition-65-law-and-regulations.