U.S. – October 2023 California Proposition 65 – 60-Day Notices Analysis

Vol. 1391 | 24 Jan 2024

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 October 2023, there were 409 60-day notices for violation of Prop 65. The majority of the notices were for Lead (43%). Nearly 25% of notices were for the presence of Phthalates, 32% of the notices were for Other chemicals. 

Among the reported notices, bags and cases had 34 notices for the presence of phthalates, 1 notice for the presence of lead. Externally decorated glass and ceramics had 29 notices for Lead, and 1 notice for the presence of Phthalates. Pet products had 1 notice for the presence of Phthalates. There were 10 notices issued for the presence of Phthalates in the category of packaging. 

Noticeably, 1 notice issued for the presence of Bisphenol A (BPA) in a blender with travel lid, in the category of kitchen and dining.

The beauty and personal care category had 14 notices for the presence of other chemicals such as Titanium Dioxide, Benzene and Diethanolamine.

There were 5 notices for the presence of Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in hats, bibs and nonstick frying pans. There was 1 notice issued for the presence of Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS) in bibs.

There were 3 notices issued for Hexavalent Chromium (Chromium (VI)), present in various items such as general purpose gloves and footwear.  

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) and Andrew Loveland (andrew.loveland@intertek.com).