Ask The Expert: What Is Prop 65?

In the fastener industry, there are three main regulations that we need to be aware of and need to determine if our products are compliant.

RoHS

REACH

Prop 65

In this edition of Ask The Engineer, we will focus on the State of California's Proposition 65 warning label requirements, commonly called Prop 65. We’ll save questions about RoHS and REACH for another installment.

Prop 65 is a California law that requires identification of any materials the State of California has determined contain carcinogens in products sold to consumers.

This proposition, as part of the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, only applies to products sold in California. In August of 2018, California added the requirement that the label on parts sold within state lines must warn if one or more of these substances are present in the product. There are currently around 900 chemicals and substances on this list. The law does not restrict the sale of items that contain these substances; it is designed to create awareness of their presence so the product can be used safely and in the manner in which the product was designed to be used.

Fastener suppliers that ship product into the state of California need to be aware of the substances that are in the materials their parts are made from, along with the substances that are in the plating or coating that are applied to the fastener and in any locking or sealing patches that are applied.

For fasteners distributors of standard grades of hex bolts and nuts (Grades 2, 5 and 8) the Prop 65 labeling requirement typically applies to the plating that is applied to these fasteners. Platings such as cadmium or zinc that is sealed with a hexavalent chromate (commonly listed as Zinc/Yellow) requires a Prop 65 warning label.

Earnest Machine Products has taken the position that we will apply a Prop 65 warning label to products that contain substances that are listed by Prop 65 whether or not the product will be sold in California.

If you are a distributor that sells into the state of California, our label is compliant. If you are a distributor elsewhere in the country, we simply want you to be aware of what it is and why it’s there.

 

Our goal is to educate our customers and provide as much transparency as possible. If you have questions or would like to learn more, please call us at 800-327-6378 or email us at [email protected].