California Requires Online SDS for Cosmetics and Disinfectants Containing Hazardous Ingredients

Beginning on July 1, 2020, California manufacturers and importers of any “hazardous substance or mixture of hazardous substances that constitutes a cosmetic” or products used as disinfectants will have new safety data sheet (SDS) requirements. They will be required to provide and upkeep SDSs for those products and make them available on the company’s public website in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Korean, “and other languages that the director may determine to be common for the beauty care industry.” The products must be identified on the SDSs by its “brand name or other commonly known name in a manner generally accessible to the public.”

Assembly Bill 647 was approved by the governor of California on September 20, 2019, and this new requirement has been added to the California Labor Code in Section 6309.2.

According to Section 10990 of the California Health and Safety Code, “‘Cosmetic’ means any article, or its components, intended to be rubbed, poured, sprinkled, or sprayed on, introduced into, or otherwise applied to, the human body, or any part of the human body, for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering the appearance. The term ‘cosmetic’ does not include soap.”

The California Code of Regulations defines a disinfectant as “a product registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that has demonstrated bactericidal, fungicidal and virucidal activity.” See the resources link below for more details on disinfectants.

Hazardous substances are established and maintained by the Director of Industrial Relations (DIR) and reside in Title 8 Section 339 of the DIR regulations. This list is available in the link below and in the LOLI database.

Recommended Action Item:

If you manufacture or sell affected products in California, ensure that you have up to date SDSs for those products available to the public online in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Korean.

Need a little help? Our team of regulatory experts can author safety data sheets and provide translations in many languages, including all of the languages required by AB 647. Learn more about our Hazard Communication Services.

References:

California Labor Code Section 6390.2: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=LAB&division=5.&title=&part=1.&chapter=2.5.&article=4.

Assembly Bill No. 647: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB647

California Health and Safety Code Section 109900 (definition of “cosmetic”): https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?division=104.&chapter=1.&part=5.&lawCode=HSC

California Health and Safety Code Section 6385 (products excluded): http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=6385.&lawCode=LAB

California Code of Regulations Title 16, Division 9, Article 12, Section 977 (definition for disinfectant): https://govt.westlaw.com/calregs/Document/I7592A760DAA211E4855D80D8FB36B988?viewType=FullText&originationContext=documenttoc&transitionType=CategoryPageItem&contextData=(sc.Default)

California Department of Industrial Relations Section 339 Hazardous Substances List: https://www.dir.ca.gov/title8/339.html

California Code of Regulations Section 5194 – Hazard Communication: https://govt.westlaw.com/calregs/Document/I3F106C607CE911E0B507BD164A50C7EB?viewType=FullText&listSource=Search&originationContext=Search+Result&transitionType=SearchItem&contextData=(sc.Search)&navigationPath=Search%2fv1%2fresults%2fnavigation%2fi0ad720f2000001712c06b0c84611fff6%3fNav%3dREGULATION_PUBLICVIEW%26fragmentIdentifier%3dI3F106C607CE911E0B507BD164A50C7EB%26startIndex%3d1%26transitionType%3dSearchItem%26contextData%3d%2528sc.Default%2529%26originationContext%3dSearch%2520Result&list=REGULATION_PUBLICVIEW&rank=2&t_T2=5194&t_S1=CA+ADC+s