U.S. – May 2025 California Proposition 65 – 60-Day Notices Analysis

Vol. 1486 | 05 Aug 2025

In May 2025, a total of 364 California Proposition 65 notices were issued. Of these, 57.46% for lead, 19.34% for phthalates, 22.93% for other chemicals, and 0.28% for both lead and phthalates.

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 May 2025, there were 364 60-day notices for violation of Proposition 65, of which 57.46% of the notices (208 notices) served were for the category of Lead, 19.34% of notices were served for the presence of Phthalates, 22.93% of the notices were for the presence of Other chemicals, and 0.28% (1 notice) was served for the combined presence of lead and phthalates.

Among the reported notices, bags and cases had 12 notices for the presence of Phthalates. Externally decorated glass and ceramics had 23 notices for the presence of Lead.

The beauty and personal care category had 10 notices for the presence of other chemicals such as Diethanolamine, and Coconut Oil Diethanolamine Condensate in various products such as creams, shampoos, moisturizers, scrubs and sanitizers.

There were 2 notices issued for the presence of Hexavalent Chromium in gloves and footwear. There were 13 notices issued for the presence of Phthalates in apparel such as jackets, t-shirts, shorts, joggers, hoodies and stockings. There were 14 notices issued for the presence of Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) in apparel (such as jackets and shorts). There were 3 notices issued for the presence of Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) in pet products, and 2 notices issued for its presence in umbrellas.

Noticeably, there were 3 notices issued for the presence of lead in candles and accessories. In the category of tools, there were 13 notices issued for the presence of Lead, and 7 notices issued for the presence of phthalates. There were a total of 21 notices issued in the category of hardware, of which 17 were issued for the presence of Lead, 3 were issued for the Phthalates, 1 notice was issued for the combined presence of both Lead and Phthalates.  

There were a total of 17 notices issued for the presence of Bisphenol (BPS) in receipts, and 2 notices issued for the presence of Bisphenol (BPS) in labels and stickers. Besides its presence of Bisphenol A (BPA) in food, there was 1 notice issued for its presence in packaging.

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).