California Proposition 65 is a unique regulation that brings separate compliance requirements from all other regulations in the US (or abroad) and is enforced through civil litigation (via issuance of a Notice of Violation, or “NOV”). A single violation can cost a company upwards of $50,000 or more. At the beginning of each month, we take a quick look at an enforcement summary for the previous month to highlight the types of products being targeted, how frequently, and any new trends in enforcement action that may have appeared.
Hopefully these posts will raise a flag for any company selling these types of products into California so they can take a careful look at their products and get ahead of any potential enforcement!
California Proposition 65 Enforcement for January 2024:
- The year started with a slight drop in NOV as compared to December (337 vs. 394),
- The first BPS NOV was issued for thermal receipt paper – these NOV will certainly increase.
- As if cosmetics haven’t had enough issues with Prop 65, another chemical (nitrous oxide) has cropped up in the last 2 months, being detected in various shave gels, foams, mousses. Nitrous oxide is a GRAS food additive (21 CFR 184.1545) and is commonly used in whip cream cans. It has been on the Prop 65 list since 2008 so we’ll see if this keeps growing.
- PFAS chemicals have been detected in a few seafood samples, but had an overall drop in enforcement this month.
