More On California Proposition 65 Changes

Over the last few months, the Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) has received several questions about California’s new Proposition 65 regulations. The new rules are highly technical and apply differently to various companies. While we urge companies with ten or more employees (the businesses that are subject to Proposition 65) to address specific questions with legal counsel, MSCI will continue to publish resources that could be helpful to its members.

According to Manifest Senior Associate Editor Gillian Scott, the changes mean “a manufacturer must provide ‘clear and reasonable’ warnings when a product contains one of the chemicals listed by Proposition 65, unless the expected level of exposure poses no significant risk.” The warnings that companies must post include labels placed on a product, signs posted at a workplace or business, and notices published in a newspaper. Scott explains that, while previous Proposition 65 warnings only needed to state that a product contained a chemical that could cause cancer, birth defects, or reproductive harm, the new warnings require a more detailed approach.

Specifically, Scott says manufacturers’ warnings must include:

• The word “warning” in all capital letters and in bold;
• A graphic of a yellow triangle with a black outline and a black exclamation point inside;
• The name of the chemical
• A link to California’s Proposition 65 website; and
• A description that identifies whether the product contains only carcinogens, only reproductive toxins, both carcinogens and reproductive toxins, or a substance that is both a carcinogen and a reproductive toxin.

Manufacturers also must include these warnings for items sold in catalogs or online. California provides more information about the new rules here.