California Warning / Proposition 65

What does the California Warning (Prop 65) I found on my product mean?

“California Warning: Cancer & Reproductive Harm” is not what you expect to see when you open your package. You may even find it alarming. However, if you live in the state of California, and look around, you will find this warning on everyday items you find at home, restaurants, grocery stores, and even coffee shops, to name a few.

This warning is the result of a law passed in California in 1986, known as the California Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, or more commonly referred to as “Prop 65.”

Prop 65 affects all products sold or distributed in California, including textiles, hard goods, toys, foods, and electrical/electronic items. In its simplest form, Prop 65 can be considered a consumer “right-to-know law” that informs consumers if certain hazardous chemicals are present in a product or its packaging.

Why is Mr. S Leather including this warning?

First and foremost, Mr. S Leather strives to comply with all applicable laws, including Proposition 65. With the way Proposition 65 is structured, however, it is not possible to ascertain, with 100% scientific certainty, whether or not a particular product requires a warning for any one of the more than 850 chemicals on the Proposition 65 list. At the same time, the law allows any private person “in the public interest” – so-called private bounty hunters – to sue companies to enforce the law, and to keep a percentage of the penalties imposed. The law’s lack of certainty about when to warn is often exploited by these bounty hunters, who file thousands of Proposition 65 lawsuits every year. Penalties can be very high; the cost of defending a case is also very high.

As a result of the potential penalties and the current private enforcement climate, Mr. S Leather, as well as many other manufacturers, have elected to provide the Proposition 65 notice out of an abundance of caution in order to ensure compliance and avoid the potential for liability. With the thousands of products we carry at Mr. S Leather, coming from multiple suppliers, it is not financially possible for us to test and re-test for the 850+ chemicals on the California Proposition 65 warning list, a list that continues to grow every year. For a complete listing, visit the official OEHHA website.

We emphasize that a Proposition 65 warning does not necessarily mean a product is in violation of any product-safety standards or requirements. In fact, the California government has clarified that “the fact that a product bears a Proposition 65 warning does not mean by itself that the product is unsafe.” The government has also explained, “You could think of Proposition 65 more as a ‘right to know’ law than a pure product safety law.”

I purchased this product outside of California; why is it included?

Our products are sold worldwide. It would be extremely difficult and costly to determine which products will ultimately be sold or brought into California. Therefore, to ensure compliance with Proposition 65 requirements, we have decided to include these warnings on all of our products, regardless of destination.

What about similar products without a warning label?

You can’t assume that products without warning labels are chemical free or exempt from the Prop 65 warning requirement. It’s possible that the product isn’t sold in California – the only state that requires this warning label. And some companies only put the labels on products that will be sold in California, so you won’t see them unless you buy the product there.

What is Proposition 65?

California Proposition 65 is a law that is unique to the State of California. Regulations concerning the law are processed through the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), which maintains a list of chemicals that it determines as ‘known to the State of California to cause cancer and/or reproductive toxicity’.

Prop 65 was enacted to help prevent contamination of water sources, assist California consumers in making informed choices about products, and enable residents and workers to protect themselves from exposures to certain chemicals and substances. The law requires the Governor of California to publish a list of substances that are known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm. The list is updated at least once a year.

The list, which must be updated at least annually, includes a wide variety of chemicals that can be found in many everyday items, such as dyes, solvents, drugs, food additives, by-products of certain processes, pesticides, and tobacco products. Prop 65 does not ban the presence of the listed chemicals in products, but does require a warning label or sign if the product may possibly be sold to a consumer in California.

Proposition 65 applies to any company operating in California, selling products in California, or manufacturing products that may be sold in or brought into California and requires warnings to be placed on any product, product packaging, or literature accompanying a product that contains or may contain any of the 800-plus chemicals that OEHHA has listed. As noted above, many of the elements listed under Proposition 65 have been routinely used in everyday consumer items for years without documented harm.

For more information about Proposition 65, visit: oehha.ca.gov/proposition-65