U.S. – May 2022 California Proposition 65 – 60-Day Notices Analysis

Vol. 1314 | 25 Jul 2022

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 May 2022, there were a total of 261 60-day notices for violation of Prop 65. The majority of the notices were for Lead (49%) and Phthalates (39%). The remaining 12% of notices were for the presence of other chemicals.

Of the reported notices, bags and cases had 25 notices for the presence of phthalates. 19 notices were served for the presence of phthalates in the packaging of various consumer products. Externally decorated glass and ceramics had 11 notices for lead; dietary supplements had 16 notices for lead; sports and outdoors accounted for 5 notices for the presence of phthalates. 2 notices were served for the presence of phthalates in raincoats and the faux brim of hats.

Noticeably, one notice was served for the presence of BPA in cellphone cases. The category of beauty and personal care had 7 notices for the presence of other chemicals such as Titanium Dioxide, Benzene and Beta-Myrcene, and delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol. Two notices (one for the presence of lead and another for the presence of phthalates) were served for holiday décor.

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, +1 847-871-1047) or Pratik Ichhaporia (pratik.ichhaporia@intertek.com , +1 847 212 8273).