U.S. – December 2023 California Proposition 65 – 60-Day Notices Analysis

Vol. 1393 | 24 Jan 2024

The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, commonly referred to as Proposition 65 (Prop 65), is enforced by the California Attorney General’s office or any district attorney or certain city attorneys or by any individual acting in the public interest. Prop 65 requires that an individual acting in the public interest, to enforce the Act give notice of the impending action to the person alleged to be committing the violation, along with the Attorney General, district attorneys and certain city attorneys in which the violation is alleged to have occurred. The notice must be sent to these parties no less than 60 days before commencing the action; thus, this notice is commonly referred to as the “60-day Notice of Violation”.

In December 2023, there were 344 60-day notices for violation of Prop 65. The majority of the notices were for Lead (45%). 11% of notices were for the presence of Phthalates, 44% of the notices were for Other chemicals.

Among the reported notices, bags and cases had 13 notices for the presence of phthalates, 1 notice for the presence of lead and 1 notice for the presence of other chemicals. Externally decorated glass and ceramics had 15 notices for Lead. Footwear had 1 notice for the presence of Phthalates, 7 notices for the presence of Bisphenol A(BPA) and 1 notice for the presence of Hexavalent Chromium. There were 7 notices issued for the presence of Phthalates in the category of packaging. 

The beauty and personal care category had 5 notices for the presence of other chemicals such as Titanium Dioxide, Benzene and Diethanolamine, and 1 notice for the presence of phthalates in flat irons and cuticle scissors.

There were 7 notices issued for Hexavalent Chromium (Chromium (VI)), present in various items such as leather organizers, footwear, sports gloves, phone case, money pouch and welding apron.

For local and worldwide companies manufacturing and/or operating in the state of California, Intertek’s Prop 65 compliance services provide the expert support and laboratory testing qualifications needed to comply with regulations and mitigate complexities. Simply contact us.

For questions, please contact Harini Ramaswamy (harini.ramaswamy@intertek.com) and Andrew Loveland (andrew.loveland@intertek.com).