Proposition 65 Warnings

California Proposition 65 Warning Information

I’m seeing warnings on products. What do they mean?

Some of the products sold on www.theparkwholesale.com are packaged with a warning in accordance with California law. The warning message, which is given to us by our suppliers, can vary depending on the product. Below are some examples of the warnings provided by our suppliers:

  • WARNING: This product can expose you to chemicals including di(2-ethyhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), which are known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. For more information go to P65Warnings.ca.gov.

These warnings are required by California’s Proposition 65 labeling law, which requires businesses to notify consumers about chemicals on the Proposition 65 chemical list under certain circumstances.  There are over 900 substances -both natural and synthetic- identified on the Proposition 65 chemical list, and new chemicals are added to the list every year.

Proposition 65 is not a product safety law and does not ban or regulate the sale of any products; it only requires warnings. You may have seen similar warnings in California on other products, or in supermarkets, coffee shops, airports, hotels, restaurants, and on e-commerce sites. Although you should always take heed of product warnings, the presence of a Proposition 65 warning does not mean that the product is unsafe.

Does a warning mean that the products aren’t safe?

We are committed to selling products that are safe when used as intended and that also comply with all applicable laws. California’s Proposition 65 is not a product safety law, but a notification law that uses very conservative standards – among the most conservative in the world – to establish when notifications are required. 

Proposition 65 exempts small businesses, like ours, from its requirements. Nevertheless, in the interest of transparency and to promote informed consumer choice, we transmit to our customers the same warnings that we receive from our suppliers.

But I’m not a California resident – why are there warnings on the product I purchased?

The distribution of products – whether the products sold on www.theparkwholesale.com or any other product – can be very complex, with numerous distribution channels.  It is not possible for us, or most other companies, to control where their products ultimately are sold, especially with the continuing rise of third party sellers (including unauthorized sellers) on e-commerce sites.  For this reason, for those products that are supplied to us with a warning, we pass on those warnings as provided to us no matter where they are sold, even though the warnings are only intended for California customers.

Why don’t all similar products on the market carry the same warning?

Some manufacturers of similar products elect not to provide warnings, because they have concluded that they are not required to do so under Proposition 65. Other manufacturers take a different warning approach, sometimes because they have been involved in a Proposition 65 settlement and are required to provide certain warnings under particular circumstances specified by the settlement agreement. No matter the reason, because we don’t manufacture these products ourselves, we rely on our suppliers to determine what Proposition 65 information is required for their products. We pass on to our customers the same warnings that are provided to us by our suppliers.

Still confused?

You can find more detailed information about Proposition 65 compliance on the website for the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) at www.oehha.ca.gov or visit www.P65Warnings.ca.gov.