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Chemicals on the California Proposition 65 List

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Businesses are responsible for keeping up with the chemicals on the California Proposition 65 list. Learn how they're added below.

Prop 65 regulations are very specific. Make sure you're compliant before the new rule goes into effect on August 30th!

With all the talk about Cal Prop 65, businesses are required to stay up-to-date with the 900+ chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer or birth defects or other reproductive harm. 

The Proposition 65 List contains a wide range of naturally occurring and synthetic chemicals that include additives or ingredients in pesticides, common household products, food, drugs, dyes, or solvents. Listed chemicals may also be used for manufacturing and construction, or include byproducts of chemical processes, such as motor vehicle exhaust.

When chemicals are identified to cause cancer in the state of California, a Proposition 65 warning is needed. To learn more about California Proposition 65 and how it can affect your business, read our article What is California Proposition 65.

How are chemicals added to the Cal Prop 65 list?

The state of California updates the list of chemicals at least annually (Health and Safety Code section 25249.8). Per The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), chemicals are added to the list based on information identified by these four entities:

1) Labor Code

Chemicals identified by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as causing cancer in humans or laboratory animals.

2) State’s Qualified Experts (SQE) 

Independent committees of scientific and health experts - such as the Carcinogen Identification Committee (CIC) and the Developmental and Reproductive Toxicant Identification Committee (DARTIC) can find that a chemical has been clearly shown to cause cancer or birth defects or other reproductive harm. They meet at least once a year to evaluate chemicals under Proposition 65.

3) Authoritative Bodies (AB)

If one of the authoritative bodies (AB) formally identifies a chemical as causing cancer or birth defects or other reproductive harm, it’s added to the Cal Prop list. The AB include the US Environmental Protection Agency, US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA), National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, the National Toxicology Program of the US Department of Health and Human Services, and IARC.

4) Formally Required to be Labeled (FR)

When the state or federal government requires a chemical to be labeled or identified as causing cancer or birth defects or other reproductive harm, it’s added to the list. Most chemicals in the FR category are prescription drugs that are required by the US FDA to contain warnings relating to cancer or birth defects or other reproductive harm.

You may download the list of chemicals here. This list is current as of May 25, 2018.

Get compliant before August 30, 2018, to avoid hefty fines.

For more information, reach out to these resources:

https://oehha.ca.gov/proposition-65/how-chemicals-are-added-proposition-65-list

https://oehha.ca.gov/proposition-65

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