California Health Agency Improves Short Form Prop 65 Warnings
A diverse coalition of environmental and health nonprofits pushed the agency to require chemical names in warnings
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Oakland, California – Today the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) released its final short form warning regulations for Proposition 65. Center for Environmental Health (CEH) led a diverse coalition of environmental and health nonprofits in lobbying for greater transparency in short form warning labels.
“We applaud OEHHA for most of the proposed policy changes, particularly the listing of at least one chemical name on short form warnings” said CEH’s Senior Legislative Council, Tom Fox. “Given that Proposition 65 was passed due to the public’s concern about being exposed to toxic chemicals in the water they drink, the air they breathe, the products they use, and the food they eat; we are enthusiastically in favor of this effort to make that information more accessible.”
The requirement to list at least one chemical name per warning is supported by a UC Davis Extension Collaboration Center’s 2015 study that showed that a majority of survey responders preferred warnings with at least one chemical name.
Many businesses were also using the short form warning on large packages like washing machines, refrigerators, and stoves. OEHHA amended its regulations to include a maximum label surface area if the product is using the short form warning option because it would deny consumers full access to information necessary for informed decision making.
OEHHA has also prohibited short form warnings to be used on websites and catalogues, as they aren’t restrained by space limits the way that physical warning labels on products are. Online catalogues and websites have adequate space to provide detailed information about their products. It is important that these companies also devote equitable access to the potential health concerns associated with the use of these products.
Short form warnings will also now be in a minimum size 10 font, as opposed to the size 6 option companies had been using before. This change is to ensure that these warnings “must be displayed with such conspicuousness as compared to other words, statements, designs or devices on the label,” according to 27 Cal Code Regs 25601(c). The groups agree that any warning printed in size 6 font cannot be considered clear and reasonable warning.
We are optimistic that making these warning labels more transparent and accessible will make a big difference in protecting Californians from the toxic chemicals Prop 65 covers. Just last month, a new study published in Environmental Health Perspectives found that these Prop 65 warnings have curbed Californians exposure to toxic forever chemicals over the last forty years. Californians were found to have lower chemical levels in their blood than people living elsewhere in the United States. Chemical levels in products also fell nationwide as companies reformulated their products without toxic substances in order to avoid the warning label requirement entirely.