California’s Proposition 65
2/3/2020
Quite recently, I visited our Burbank Operable Unit for the purpose of assisting with an independent audit that focused on safety and health. The major take-away was that our corporate hazard communication program (see the attached) did not address California’s Proposition 65 requirements. Proposition 65, or better known as simply, Prop 65, was established under California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1989, whereby the state of California is required to establish a list of chemicals that are known to cause cancer as well as reproductive toxicity and that businesses need to post warnings for its employees and visitors when such chemicals are present in their establishment..
An example of a warning is shown below (I took this photo at a Starbucks Coffee shop in Monterey while attending the Monterey Jazz Festival – one item off the ol’ bucket list! BTW, that’s John Steinbeck).
The warning says:
Chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and reproductive toxicity, including acrylamide, are present in coffee, baked good and other foods and beverages sold here. Acrylamide is not added to our products but results from cooking such as when coffee beans are roasted, or baked goods are baked. As a result, acrylamide is present in our beans and brewed coffee including coffee made at home or elsewhere from our beans, ground or instant coffee, baked goods or other foods sold here in grocery stores or other retail locations.
Your personal cancer risk is affected by a variety of factors. The FDA has not advised people to stop drinking coffee or eating baked goods that contain acrylamide. For more information regarding the FDA’s views, visit www.fda.gov. For more information about acylamide and Proposition 65, please visit www.oehha.ca.gov/prop65/acrylamide.html.
For chemicals that are listed as causing cancer, the “no significant risk level” is defined as the level of exposure that would result in not more than one excess case of cancer in 100,000 individuals exposed to the chemical over a 70-year lifetime. In other words, a person exposed to the chemical at the “no significant risk level” for 70 years would not have more than a “one in 100,000” chance of developing cancer as a result of that exposure.
For chemicals that are listed as causing birth defects or reproductive harm, the “no observable effect level” is determined by identifying the level of exposure that has been shown to not pose any harm to humans or laboratory animals. Proposition 65 then requires this “no observable effect level” to be divided by 1,000 in order to provide an ample margin of safety. Businesses subject to Proposition 65 are required to provide a warning if they cause exposures to chemicals listed as causing birth defects or reproductive harm that exceed 1/1000th of the “no observable effect level.”
As a result of our S&H audit I revised our corporate Hazard Communication Program to include Prop 65 warnings. This is strictly for our operations in California and is NOT required for any other TPMC location or place of business. Please take a look at our revised Haz Com program, attached.
Only mediocrity escapes criticism