Beginning December 20, 2014, companies with ten or more employees that manufacture, distribute or sell products in California containing Diisononyl phthalate (DINP) will be required to provide “clear and reasonable” warnings under the State’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, commonly referred to as “Proposition 65.”
California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) added DINP to the Proposition 65 list of chemicals on December 20, 2013 as a chemical “known to the State to cause cancer.” Once a chemical is listed as a carcinogen under Proposition 65, companies have 12 months to stop selling products containing that chemical in California without a warning, unless they can prove exposure to the chemical is at a level that presents “no significant risk.”
Proposition 65’s citizen suit provision authorizes any California citizen or private organization to issue a notice of violation to an entity that manufactures, distributes or sells a product containing the listed chemical in California, beginning 12 months after the listing date. The notice of violation triggers a 60-day period, during which the State Attorney General or any district attorney may bring an enforcement action. If no public prosecution is commenced during the 60-day window, the private enforcer that issued the notice of violation may file a complaint in state court to enforce the law.
A related chemical, Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP), has been listed under Proposition 65 for many years and has generated hundreds of 60-day notices and lawsuits brought by citizen enforcers. As such, it can be expected that DINP’s listing will encourage a new wave of citizen enforcement actions against companies doing business in California.
DINP is used as a general purpose plasticizer and can be found in a wide range of products. Its use in California in toys and children’s articles has been restricted since 2009.
-- Samir Abdelnour
Barg Coffin has an extensive Proposition 65 practice. If you would like more information about Proposition 65, please contact Josh Bloom (jab@bcltlaw.com) or Samir Abdelnour (sja@bcltlaw.com), at (415) 228-5400.
I was born and raised in California, but I haven't lived there for years. That's probably why I'm not familiar with Proposition 65. My cousin in Los Angeles was telling me about it the other day, but I didn't know much about it. I figured I should look into it a little bit more.
ReplyDeleteWalter Kowalski | http://prop65news.com/Home/CaliforniaProposition65MadeSimple.aspx