SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Feb. 5, 2015) — The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has scheduled a March 25 hearing in Sacramento on the state's plan to alter its chemical warning rules on various product labels.
The OEHHA is the agency responsible for implementing California's Safe Drinking Water and Toxics Enforcement Act of 1986, also known as Proposition 65.
The proposed changes to Proposition 65 would replace its current Article 6 with a new Article 6 requiring more detailed warnings about chemicals listed as hazardous by the OEHHA, including how to avoid or reduce exposure to those chemicals.
Manufacturers and others in the chain of chemical and product distribution are subject to the proposed changes, the OEHHA said on its website.
“This access to more detailed information would further promote public health and safety,” according to a notice on the OEHHA website. “The regulatory proposal also provides more clarity to the warning requirements and more specifically regarding the minimum elements for providing a ‘clear and reasonable' warning for exposures that occur from products.”
The proposed revisions also list 12 chemicals that a manufacturer would be required to list by name on warning labels. These include acrylamide, arsenic, benzene, cadmium, carbon monoxide, chlorinated tris, formaldehyde, hexavalent chromium, lead, mercury, methylene chloride and phthalates.
“Currently, a Prop 65 warning must be given prior to the time of anticipated exposure,” the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) said in a recent newsletter. “But under the new rule, the warning must be given prior to sale, imposing new burdens on website and catalog retailers.”
In addition to the public hearing, the OEHHA will accept public comment on the Proposition 65 changes until April 8. The webpage on the proposed rule change and public hearing may be found by clicking here.