Proposed Changes to the Proposition 65 Short-Form Warning

On Jan. 8, 2021, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (CaOEHHA) published a proposed update for the use and verbiage of its short-form warning. According to Title 27, Article 6 of the California Code of Regulations, product manufacturers must provide a “clear and reasonable” warning to any individual prior to exposure to a Proposition 65 listed substance. CaOEHHA has provided Safe Harbor methods of transmission and language that are considered to provide that “clear and reasonable” warning. In August 2018, extensive updates went into effect for Article 6 warnings. These updates included the inclusion of a short-form warning, where disclosure of the listed substance was not required. At the time CaOEHHA did not provide clarification as to when and where the short-form warning would be appropriate.  

The current amendment addresses CaOEHHA’s concerns revolving around the use of the short-form warning. Since guidance on its use was not initially stated, CaOEHHA found that the use of the short-form warning was used in applications that were outside of CaOEHHA’s original intent, including on large industrial containers where there was sufficient space to provide the full-warning statement. The proposed amendments limit the use of the short-form warning based on product label and container size. Additionally, the short-form warning now requires the disclosure of the listed substance(s) that drive(s) the warning requirement. Rules for listing a substance in the short-form warning align with the current requirements for the full warning statement.  

Additional amendments are listed for exposure to listed substances within food products. The public comment period is now open and runs until March 8, 2021. Some recommended actions include: 

• The review of the use of any short-form warnings in light of current proposal.
• The  review of proposed amendments for Section 25607.2 for any food products.
• Provision of comments to CaOEHHA.

Contact UL for more information on the proposed update to Proposition 65 and how it affects your operation.

References

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Amendments to Article 6, Clear and Reasonable Warnings Short-form Warnings | OEHHA (ca.gov)