California Proposition 65
Why do my gloves have a warning?
“This product contains a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm,” may not be what you expect to see when you open your box to see your new awesome Kinco product. You may even find it alarming (sorry about that!). However, if you live in the state of California, and look around, you will find this warning on items in your home, in restaurants, and even theme parks…
What is California’s Proposition 65 Warning?
This warning is the result of a law passed in California in 1986, referred to as the California Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, or more generally referred to as “Proposition 65” or “Prop 65.”
Proposition 65 is a broad law that applies to any company operating in California, selling products in California, or manufacturing products that may be sold in or brought into California. It mandates that the Governor of California, through the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) maintain and publish a list of chemicals that are known to cause cancer, birth defects and/or other reproductive harm. The list, which must be updated at least annually, includes a wide variety of chemicals that can be found in many everyday items, such as dyes, solvents, drugs, food-additives, by-products of certain processes, pesticides, and tobacco products. The purpose of Proposition 65 is to ensure that people are informed about exposure to these chemicals.
Proposition 65 also requires warnings to be placed on any product, product packaging, or literature accompanying a product that contains or may contain any of the 850+ chemicals that OEHHA has listed. As noted above, many of the elements listed under Proposition 65 have been routinely used in everyday consumer items for years without documented harm.
Why does Kinco® include this warning?
Answering this question requires some more context. First and foremost, Kinco strives to comply with all applicable laws, including Proposition 65. With the way Proposition 65 is structured, however, it is not possible to ascertain, with 100% scientific certainty, whether or not a particular product requires a warning for any one of the more than 850 chemicals on the Proposition 65 list. At the same time, the law allows any private person “in the public interest” – so-called private bounty hunters – to sue companies to enforce the law, and to keep a percentage of the penalties imposed. The law’s lack of certainty about when to warn is often exploited by these bounty hunters, who file thousands of Proposition 65 lawsuits every year. Penalties can be very high; the cost of defending a case also is very high.
As a result of the potential penalties and the current private enforcement climate, Kinco, as well as many other manufacturers, have elected to provide the Proposition 65 notice out of an abundance of caution in order to ensure compliance and avoid the potential for liability. With 300+ Kinco styles/products that have many sub-assemblies and could have variations in raw material suppliers, it is not financially possible for us to test and re-test for the 850+ chemicals on the California Proposition 65 warning list, a list that continues to grow every year. For a complete listing, visit the official OEHHA website.
The warning does not mean that our products actually will cause any harm. Moreover, a Proposition 65 warning does not mean a product is in violation of any product-safety standards or requirements. In fact, the California government has clarified that “the fact that a product bears a Proposition 65 warning does not mean by itself that the product is unsafe.” The government has also explained, “You could think of Proposition 65 more as a ‘right to know’ law than a pure product safety law.”
We believe our products are not harmful when used as designed. We provide the warning to comply with this California right-to-know law.
But I purchased my product outside of California; Why is it included?
Our products are sold nationwide and through nationwide distributors who sell nationwide. It would be extremely difficult and costly to determine which products will be ultimately sold or brought solely into California. Therefore, to ensure compliance with Proposition 65 requirements, we have decided to include these warnings on all our products, regardless of destination.
Sample warning found on our website and printed collateral:
Learn more about California’s Proposition 65 at www.oehha.ca.gov/prop65
rev. 06/23