Regulatory Open Forum

I'm reaching out in hopes someone can help me. I was recently approached and asked if a finished product, which uses adhesive that contains a Prop 65 CA Warning on its label, should also have that in its label. Question caught me off guard, as that seems state-specific and not covered by FDA regulations or ISO requirements.  I would enormously appreciate any insight.

​Thank you kindly!

Carol

I'm reaching out in hopes someone can help me. I was recently approached and asked if a finished product, which uses adhesive that contains a Prop 65 CA Warning on its label, should also have that in its label. Question caught me off guard, as that seems state-specific and not covered by FDA regulations or ISO requirements.  I would enormously appreciate any insight.

​Thank you kindly!

Carol

I'm reaching out in hopes someone can help me. I was recently approached and asked if a finished product, which uses adhesive that contains a Prop 65 CA Warning on its label, should also have that in its label. Question caught me off guard, as that seems state-specific and not covered by FDA regulations or ISO requirements.  I would enormously appreciate any insight.

​Thank you kindly!

Carol

Hi Carol.

Generally I agree with Jim's point of view on this.  The real question for Prop 65 warnings are "exposure".  If there is any chance that the consumer could be "exposed" to the listed chemical (which you may or may not have specific information on what chemical is driving the warning for the adhesive!) then if you choose to not have the "warning" on your package you are in potential danger for bounty hunters to come after you.

Prop 65 has actually created a small little ecosystem all its own in terms of litigation because the law allows for "private attorney general" actions meaning that anyone "exposed" to the chemical can bring an action regardless of whether they were actually "injured" by the exposure to the chemical.  So there are dozens of law firms in California that literally do almost nothing more than bring these lawsuits "on behalf of" the State and then they (and their clients) get to split a percentage of any lawful recovery of fees, fines, penalties, etc.

To Jim's point - go to you local grocery store (doesn't matter whether you are in California or in Illinois) and pick up just about any can of tuna in the canned fish area.  Look on the label and invariably you will find the Prop 65 warning on the tuna can because of the potential for the fish that was used to manufacture that can to have been exposed to methyl mercury which is a mercury compound covered by the law.  Prop 65 is so unrealistic that even in states where it isn't the rule the warnings are ignored.  And in some parts of California you can actually see the general signage Warnings literally posted on the entrance doors to the grocery store to ensure that the store isn't held liable for not warning consumers of potential "exposures".  Another great one is to walk over to a fresh caught fish case in California and you'll see the mercury warning on the top or the front of the case because the fish itself won't be "branded" with the warning but it needs to be there to avoid customers from coming in and suing the store.

Unfortunately this is what governmental over-reach looks like today (and honestly for the past 30+ years) where a regulation that was expressly claiming to regulate the drinking water standards to ensure safety of the drinking water supply has been turned into a cottage industry for lawyers to simply bring cases.  And with the costs of the compliance issues as serious as they are with fines counting for every individual product on a shelf times the number of days when you were not in compliance times the fines per offence - OUCH.

I'm reaching out in hopes someone can help me. I was recently approached and asked if a finished product, which uses adhesive that contains a Prop 65 CA Warning on its label, should also have that in its label. Question caught me off guard, as that seems state-specific and not covered by FDA regulations or ISO requirements.  I would enormously appreciate any insight.

​Thank you kindly!

Carol

I'm reaching out in hopes someone can help me. I was recently approached and asked if a finished product, which uses adhesive that contains a Prop 65 CA Warning on its label, should also have that in its label. Question caught me off guard, as that seems state-specific and not covered by FDA regulations or ISO requirements.  I would enormously appreciate any insight.

​Thank you kindly!

Carol

Hi Carol,
sorry, I just saw your message now. If you ingredient is on the Prop 65 list, then you should put it on the label. This is only for California and not for the whole country. Please contact me if you have further questions. My number is +1 (416) 529-0032.

I'm reaching out in hopes someone can help me. I was recently approached and asked if a finished product, which uses adhesive that contains a Prop 65 CA Warning on its label, should also have that in its label. Question caught me off guard, as that seems state-specific and not covered by FDA regulations or ISO requirements.  I would enormously appreciate any insight.

​Thank you kindly!

Carol