What is Proposition-65?
Proposition-65 is a shorthand term for The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (California Proposition-65). Part of Proposition-65 relates to a ban on discharging certain chemicals into drinking water sources, but the part that concerns you is the part on warning requirements.
Proposition-65 requires businesses selling products in California to give consumers a “clear and reasonable warning” that chemicals in their products contain substances known to the state of California to cause cancer, birth defects or reproductive harm.
What it boils down to is businesses are required to warn California consumers that the materials that make up their products contain substances or chemicals on California’s Proposition-65 chemical list, which is updated at least once per year.
What is the purpose of Proposition-65?
The idea behind the regulation is to ensure that California consumers are as informed as possible when buying goods. The state of California wants consumers to know up front that a product is made of potentially dangerous substances, as opposed to having consumers find out years later.
Why are we adopting these regulations?
As a retailer selling into California, we’re required by law to be compliant with Proposition-65 by August 30th, 2018. It’s not just us: every company selling into California is required to get compliant with these regulations.
Because Lamination Depot Inc. is a small company, we are currently excluded from complying with Proposition 65. We take compliance seriously and are striving to be in full compliance before we are legally required to do so.
Should products featuring warnings be avoided?
No! Nothing about our products has changed. We're required to label products if they have even trace amounts of a chemical.
The goal of Proposition-65 isn’t to prevent consumers from using certain goods. Instead, per California’s OEHHA, Proposition-65 is meant “to notify consumers that they are being exposed to chemicals that are known [to the state of California] to cause cancer and/or reproductive toxicity.”
However, the OEHHA goes on to say that a Proposition-65 warning “does not necessarily mean a product is in violation of any product-safety standards or requirements.”
It’s important to remember that we produce all of our products according to both federal and internal safety standards. We subject our products to rigorous third-party testing to ensure that they are safe for everyone to use.
Where can you get more information?
The best place for information is on California’s Proposition-65 website. The website features the current list of chemicals and substances, notices and more.