The Washington Post: California’s chemical warning labels are everywhere. A study finds they’re working.
California’s labeling law has encouraged manufacturers to reduce their products’ toxic footprint, the study found.
Consumer advocates have long argued that requiring companies to label the toxic chemicals in their products would steer people away from items that could harm them — or at least help them make informed choices. In California, warning labels have become so commonplace that people joke about them. But a study suggests that the state’s label law is working — by encouraging companies to reduce their products’ toxic footprint.
The study, published Wednesday in Environmental Science & Technology, found that California’s right-to-know law, also known as Proposition 65, has effectively swayed dozens of companies from using chemicals known to cause cancer, reproductive harm or birth defects. The results back what many of the law’s supporters believe: Labeling harmful products can benefit public health.