US – California: OEHHA Proposes Second Modification to Proposed Rule for Proposition 65 (Prop 65) Short-Form Warnings
Vol. 1298 | 25 Apr 2022
On April 5, 2022, California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) issued a notice proposing additional modifications to its proposal to modify Prop 65 Article 6 Clear and Reasonable Warnings - Short Form. The latest proposal removes the limitation on the use of short-form warnings for smaller products and retains the requirement to list a chemical for toxicity endpoints.
OEHHA first proposed revisions to the short-form warning in January 2021, after public comments the proposal was revised in December 2021. This second modification to the proposed rule was in response to the public comments received for December 2021’s notice.
Following is a summary of revisions proposed in the latest notice:
Prop 65 Article 6 Clear and Reasonable Warnings Short-Form Proposal | |
Requirements | Revisions |
Label Size | The label size and package shape limitations of the short-form warning were removed. This modification means that the short-form can be used on product labels of any size, regardless of package size and shape. |
Font Size | The requirement of font type size for warnings must be the same as the largest type size providing consumer information was removed. The existing provision requiring a minimum of 6-point type size when using short-form warnings remains unchanged. |
Language | Warnings were changed from “…exposes you to…” to “…can exposure you to…” |
Effective Date | The date that the regulation becomes operative has been modified to be two years rather than one year after the effective date of the amendments. This would be sufficient time for businesses to implement changes to the short form. |
Based on the current proposal including the modifications from January 8, 2021, and December 13, 2021, the short-form warning options are as follows:
Example short-form warning for listed carcinogen.
WARNING [OR CA WARNING OR CALIFORNIA WARNING]: Cancer risk from exposure to [NAME OF CHEMICAL KNOWN TO CAUSE CANCER] - www.P65Warnings.ca.gov
or- WARNING [OR CA WARNING OR CALIFORNIA WARNING]: Can expose you to [NAME OF CHEMICAL KNOWN TO CAUSE CANCER], a carcinogen - www.P65Warnings.ca.gov
Example short-form warning for listed reproductive toxicant.
- WARNING [OR CA WARNING OR CALIFORNIA WARNING]: Risk of reproductive harm from exposure to [NAME OF CHEMICAL KNOWN TO CAUSE REPRODUCTIVE TOXICITY] - www.P65Warnings.ca.gov
or - WARNING [OR CA WARNING OR CALIFORNIA WARNING]: Can expose you to [NAME OF CHEMICAL KNOWN TO CAUSE REPRODUCTIVE TOXICITY], a reproductive toxicant - www.P65Warnings.ca.gov
Example short-form warning for exposure to both listed carcinogens and reproductive toxicants:
- WARNING [OR CA WARNING OR CALIFORNIA WARNING]: Cancer risk from [NAME OF CHEMICAL KNOWN TO CAUSE CANCER] and of reproductive harm from exposure to [NAME OF CHEMICAL KNOWN TO CAUSE REPRODUCTIVE TOXICITY] - www.P65Warnings.ca.gov
or - WARNING [OR CA WARNING OR CALIFORNIA WARNING]: Can expose you to [NAME OF CHEMICAL KNOWN TO CAUSE CANCER], a carcinogen, and [NAME OF CHEMICAL KNOWN TO CAUSE REPRODUCTIVE TOXICITY], a reproductive toxicant - www.P65Warnings.ca.gov
For exposure to chemicals listed as both a carcinogen and a reproductive toxicant:
- WARNING [OR CA WARNING OR CALIFORNIA WARNING]: Cancer risk and reproductive harm from [NAME OF CHEMICAL KNOWN TO CAUSE CANCER AND REPRODUCTIVE TOXICITY] exposure - www.P65Warnings.ca.gov
or - WARNING [OR CA WARNING OR CALIFORNIA WARNING]: Can expose you to [NAME OF CHEMICAL KNOWN TO CAUSE CANCER AND REPRODUCTIVE TOXICITY], a carcinogen and reproductive toxicant - www.P65Warnings.ca.gov
Deadline for public comments on the proposed rule was April 20, 2022.
The following link provides additional information about further modifications to the proposed amendments: https://oehha.ca.gov/media/downloads/crnr/proposedregtext2ndmodificationshortform040522.pdf
For questions, please contact Matthew Nudell (matthew.nudell@intertek.com, +1-716-225-9006) or Dr. Pratik Ichhaporia (pratik.ichhaporia@intertek.com , +1 847 212 8273).