60-Day Notices: California Proposition 65 (And How to Avoid Them)

Between September 1 and December 3, 2019 there have been more than 550 60-day notices filed with the California Attorney General’s office for Proposition 65 violations. These notices were filed by a total of 35 notifying parties and cover a significant breadth of products and chemicals.

Product Types and Notices

Product Type	# of Notices	Product Type	# of Notices
Alcoholic beverages	2	Leather products	2
Belts	4	Lighter	1
Brass bars	1	Medicated body powder	1
Brass kitchenware	2	Paper stamps	1
Ceramic kitchenware	2	Plastic bags	7
Cookware	3	Purses, wallets or bags	143
Dietary supplements	33	Rigid plastic consumer goods	95
Dumbbells	4	Sealants	1
Fire starter	3	Shoes	17
Flexible plastic consumer goods	51	Textiles	11
Food	65	Tools or hardware	90
Glassware	1	Utility items	1
Gloves	11	Vehicle parts	3

Do any of these notices hit close to home? Receipt of a 60-day notice does not automatically mean that you will be subject to litigation. If you can provide evidence that exposure to listed chemicals from your product does not exceed safe harbor levels, you are exempt from warning obligations.

NSF recommends that evidence to refute any claim of violation is proactively developed so that it is readily available to provide to the California Attorney General’s office in the event of a filing. Do you need help conducting such as assessment? Feel free to reach out to NSF at prop65@nsf.org. We have internal and experienced analytical and risk assessment staff to support your Proposition 65 needs.

References used:

https://oag.ca.gov/prop65/regulations