U.S. – November 2022 California Proposition 65 – 60-Day Notices Analysis

Vol. 1336 | 11 Jan 2023

The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, commonly referred to as Proposition 65 (Prop 65), is enforced by the California Attorney General’s office or any district attorney or certain city attorneys or by any individual acting in the public interest. Prop 65 requires that an individual acting in the public interest, to enforce the Act give notice of the impending action to the person alleged to be committing the violation, along with the Attorney General, district attorneys and certain city attorneys in which the violation is alleged to have occurred. The notice must be sent to these parties no less than 60 days before commencing the action; thus, this notice is commonly referred to as the “60-day Notice of Violation”.

In Nov 2022, there were a total of 235 60-day notices for violation of Prop 65. The majority of the notices were for Lead 53%. Phthalates had 19% of the notices, and the remaining 28% of notices were for the presence of other chemicals.

Of the reported notices, bags and cases had 17 notices for the presence of phthalates and 1 notice for the presence of other chemicals. Externally decorated glass and ceramics had 10 notices for lead; dietary supplements had a total of 6 notices served for the presence of lead. Footwear had 3 notices for the presence of phthalates and 3 for the presence of Bisphenol A.

Noticeably, the beauty and personal care category had 28 notices for the presence of other chemicals, such as Titanium Dioxide and Diethanolamine, and 2 for the presence of phthalates, in various cosmetic products and play makeup kits.

In the category of apparel, moisturizing socks had 1 notice served for the presence of Diethanolamine. Apparel (jackets) and duffle bags had a total of 4 notices for the presence of Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS) and/or Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA). A total of 17 notices were served for the presence of Bisphenol A (BPA) in various products such as footwear, portable electronics, phone cases, safety glasses, helmet visors, sports bras, and chocolate molds.

For local and worldwide companies manufacturing and/or operating in the state of California, Intertek’s Prop 65 compliance services provide the expert support and laboratory testing qualifications needed to comply with regulations and mitigate complexities. Simply contact us.

For questions, please contact Harini Ramaswamy (harini.ramaswamy@intertek.com, +1 847-871-1047) or Pratik Ichhaporia (pratik.ichhaporia@intertek.com , +1 847 212 8273).