California’s landmark warning-label law may be doing what critics said was impossible — getting companies to pull dangerous chemicals from their products.
Hiroko Tabuchi reports for The New York Times.
In short:
- New research shows that California’s right-to-know law, also known as Proposition 65, has prompted nearly 80% of companies surveyed to reformulate their products to avoid cancer and reproductive harm warnings.
- The law requires warnings on products containing harmful levels of about 900 listed chemicals, and companies can avoid these labels by reducing chemical levels below safe thresholds.
- Previous studies found that Prop 65 reduced levels of toxic chemicals in people’s bodies, but the law lacks safeguards against equally harmful substitute chemicals.
Key quote:
“This is so much bigger than the individual consumer and what we choose off the shelf.”
— Dr. Megan Schwarzman, University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health
Why this matters:
Critics have long said these warnings cause unnecessary alarm, but the data shows they might be one of the most effective ways to clean up our everyday products. From cosmetics to cleaning supplies, fewer toxic chemicals mean less exposure, less risk and one less thing to stress about.
Read more: Stricter toxic chemical rules reduce Californians’ exposures
