U.S. – April 2023 California Proposition 65 – 60-Day Notices Analysis

Vol. 1352 | 15 May 2023

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 2023, there were 256 60-day notices for violation of Prop 65. The majority of the notices were for Lead (46%). Other Chemicals had 24% of the notices, 30% of notices were for the presence of Phthalates.

Of the reported notices, bags and cases had 22 notices for the presence of phthalates. Externally decorated glass and ceramics had 19 notices for lead. Footwear had 4 notices for the presence of phthalates. Pet products had 3 notices for the presence of phthalates. There were 13 notices issued for the presence of Phthalates in the category of packaging. 

Noticeably, there were 2 notices for the presence of Bisphenol A (BPA) in device accessories such as phone and laptop covers. There were 3 notices issued for the presence of Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) in various categories of items such as grill mats, crib mattress pads and dietary supplements.

The beauty and personal care category had 22 notices for the presence of other chemicals such as Benzene, Titanium Dioxide and Diethanolamine, as well as 3 notices for the presence of phthalates in eyelash curlers and nail files. There were 11 notices issued for Hexavalent Chromium (Chromium (VI)), present in leather gloves with various end uses (i.e., used as Personal Protective Equipment, Apparel as well as in Sports & Outdoor categories).

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.

For questions, please contact Harini Ramaswamy (harini.ramaswamy@intertek.com).