U.S. – January 2024 California Proposition 65 – 60-Day Notices Analysis

Vol. 1397 | 14 Feb 2024

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 January 2024, there were 510 60-day notices for violation of Prop 65, of which 37% of the notices served were for the category of Lead, 13% of notices were served for the presence of Phthalates, 50% of the notices were for the presence of Other chemicals.

Among the reported notices, bags and cases had 15 notices for the presence of Phthalates, and 1 notice for the presence of Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS). Externally decorated glass and ceramics had 33 notices for Lead. Footwear had 4 notices for the presence of Phthalate, and 2 notices for the presence of Bisphenol A (BPA). There were 12 notices issued for the presence of Phthalates in the category of packaging. 

The beauty and personal care category had 29 notices for the presence of other chemicals such as Titanium Dioxide, Diethanolamine, mercury and mercury compounds.

There were 4 notices served for the presence of Bisphenol A (BPA) in the categories of footwear, sports and recreation, as well as diving equipment.

There were 12 notices served for the presence of Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) in apparel, personal accessories such as umbrellas and caps, shower caps, pet products, iron board covers and shower liners. There were 2 notices served for the presence of Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS) in discharges into sources of drinking water, as well as bags and cases.  There were 2 notices served for the presence of Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFNA) and its salts in apparel, and 1 notice served for the presence of PFNA and PFOA combined, in dietary supplements.

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) and Andrew Loveland (andrew.loveland@intertek.com).