Explaining California’s Proposition 65

California’s Proposition 65 (Prop 65), officially known as The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, is a California law that requires manufacturers to place a warning label on any product that the State of California has found to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm. This law was initially enacted in 1986 to assist Californians with making informed decisions on the products they were purchasing which might impact their drinking water. Since then the law has been extended to include all routes of contact such as eating, drinking, touching, and inhaling. Prop 65 helps consumers stay informed with what chemicals they are in contact with. The basic premise required products to have warning labels; however, products can vary in their use, consumption and how they come in contact with people. For example, a Prop 65 warning may be listed on something simple like a food storage container in restaurant or a more complex product such as a pressure transmitter used to measure water pressure in a municipal drinking system.

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