U.S. – April 2020 California Proposition 65 – 60-Day Notices Analysis

Vol. 1157 | 21 May 2020

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 April 2020, there were a total of 239 60-day notices for violation of Prop 65, down from the 348 notices served in March 2020. The majority of the notices were for lead & lead compounds, accounting for 55% of the total recalls. Another 22% of the recalls were for phthalates. The remaining 23% of the recalls were for other chemicals.

Food accounted for 130 (54%) of the total notices: 84 lead (65%) notices, and 46 other (35%) notices, followed by bags, which includes purses and cases, with 15% of notices (35 total notices for phthalates.) Tools & home improvement products had an increase in notices, accounting for 10% (24 notices) compared to March 2020, where only 3% (11 notices) were given.

Notably, there was one notice each for footwear made with leather materials for chromium VI, and for 3D printer filaments for styrene.

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For questions, please contact Stephanie Bilotti (stephanie.bilotti@intertek.com, +1 862 316 5877 ) or Pratik Ichhaporia (pratik.ichhaporia@intertek.com , +1-847-212-8273).