What is California’s Proposition 65 Warning?
Have you heard of California’s Proposition 65 Warning? Maybe you haven’t or maybe you feel like suddenly you’re seeing warnings everywhere. In the many searches for furniture and accessories I’ve come across the warning a handful of times and very occasionally have seen it on a product on shelves in Minnesota. My usual reaction is to move on from said product and find something different, so it felt like time to learn more about what this warning is actually about, and if avoidance is truly the best response.
What is it and where did it come from?
It surprised me to find out that this warning is California Law that was passed nearly 40 years ago and its actual title is the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986. The law came about because of concerns over gasoline spills polluting water systems and other toxic chemicals contaminating groundwater outside of California cities in more rural parts of the state. Two years after it was passed into law, warnings were required to caution against an original list of 235 chemicals. According to the Proposition 65 website, the list has been updated annually since 1987 and decades later it now contains approximately 900 chemicals.
As I was reviewing the list it took me nearly three pages before I found toxins that I was familiar with (arsenic, asbestos and aspirin - right in a row). Previous to that, most chemical names I had not heard of and for the most part could not even attempt to pronounce. What I found most interesting is that each chemical on the list provides vague information on what it can cause, such as cancer, developmental toxicity or reproductive toxicity, as well as the date it was added to the list. Some carcinogens on the list have several dates. You can also dive further into each chemical to see how it was added; some of the more widely known and researched chemicals contain information on where it is typically found and how it can be avoided. These fact sheets may be the most helpful of the Prop 65 resources.
What are companies doing in response?
Although the chemical list described above is quite helpful, that may be the extent of its value. The Prop 65 regulations and warning labels are quite controversial for a few reasons. First, it’s generally consumer enforced which has tended to bring about many long-lived legal battles. This article from Vox describes some specific cases. The law’s authors intended Prop 65 to be a way to make manufacturers accountable for what they were producing and in some cases, especially early on, this was a productive outcome. The Proposition 65 website also lists how the law has more recently been affecting positive change. However, most companies will do almost anything to avoid fines or avoid being sued, so often instead of going through the process to find alternative ingredients, they simply apply a warning label for their own protection.
One of the reasons you may have encountered Prop 65 more recently, especially if you are outside of California, is e-commerce. Many companies label or provide warnings for their products regardless of where they are headed, again, to protect themselves. You may have also noticed them more within the last several years because, according to this article from Wirecutter, as of August 2018 the warning labels are required to include a link to the prop 65 website, and e-commerce products must include the warning as part of the online product page. Technically, the warning labels must now also include at least one of the listed chemicals that the product contains, but I personally have yet to see a label or warning that does this. If the above was more prevalent this could be a major improvement in usefulness and effectiveness of the warning labels.
Product warning label available for companies to purchase from ULINE.com
What should you do if you encounter the Prop 65 label?
Based on my research this law seems extremely well intended, but as with many things, intent does not always equal impact. Many of the articles I read to prepare for this post seemed to indicate that the Prop Warnings were not something to worry about, because in some ways the law equalizes different chemical ingredients of which some are far more dangerous than others. While this is definitely true in some ways, it still seems wise to be wary of products with the warning label. Ideally, if you see a product with the warning label you would dig a little deeper to see if they are disclosing what chemical(s) it contains. It also never hurts to reach out to the manufacturer and ask questions. If you are unable to find additional information, maybe you can find an alternative product made by a company that is more transparent.
Our current approach is to look for products with positive certifications that are third party verified and boast the positive attributes of how the product is made and the ingredients within. Product certifications are another blog post in itself, so stay tuned for more in the near future.
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