CALIFORNIA PROPOSITION 65 WARNING REQUIREMENTS
YOUR RESPONSE IS REQUIRED
Dear Valued Omega Reseller:
California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, commonly referred to as “Proposition 65,” requires a warning for any product that may contain any of more than 900+ chemicals that The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) of the California Environmental Protection Agency considers a carcinogen or a reproductive toxicant.
Many of the elements listed under Prop 65 are common everyday items such as saw dust, brass (frequently used in household water fittings and door knobs), nickel (contained in US coins and clothing accessories), PVC (used in most lawn irrigation systems), and a multitude of other commonly used materials. The list of elements changes frequently.
The agency charged with administering Proposition 65 has announced new regulations governing these warnings, which will go into effect on August 30, 2018. In addition to providing new “safe harbor” warning language for retail sales of products creating exposures to a listed chemical, the new regulations also require “pre-purchase” warnings, and for warnings to appear in catalogs and on e-commerce sites. These warnings must be “clear and reasonable,” and must be provided to consumers in California prior to purchase.
As framers know, a finished product is made up of several components, often coming from various suppliers. While we cannot speak for components coming from other companies, in an abundance of caution we are making you aware of the following for items purchased from Omega:
WARNING: Our product(s) contain(s) chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and/or birth defects or other reproductive harm. For more information, go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov.
OUR PRODUCT(S):
Our internal testing and supplier audit processes are designed to confirm that our materials meet the standards set by California Prop 65. Some examples:
NO SIGNIFICANT RISK:
While cadmium, cumene and wood dust are all included on the OEHHA’s list of chemicals, the concentration of these chemicals – where present at all – are well below acceptable levels. In an excess of caution, and because every component of every product that ships to California cannot reasonably be tested for all of the 900+ chemicals listed, the safest option is to include a warning even though it may not be necessary.
We have no reason to believe that normal handling of our products will result in any significant risk, even assuming lifetime exposure, or exposure at 1000 times the level that results from handling our products.
YOUR RESPONSIBILITY
A warning such as the one below is considered to be in compliance with warning requirements and should be provided to the end user of the finished product within the State of California:
WARNING: This product contains a chemical, or chemicals, known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm. For more information, go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov.
MORE INFORMATION:
For more information about Prop 65 visit the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and for a list of elements listed under Prop 65 visit: https://oehha.ca.gov/proposition-65
WE NEED CONFIRMATION FROM YOU
An individual in a position of authority within your company must confirm your receipt of this warning and instructions from us and let us know your company will carry out its duty to post or provide the Proposition 65 warning to the end user, or pass along this information to your customer, as per the above.
PROPOSITION 65 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FORM
To be completed by all customers shipping within or to the State of California
