Here are a few common questions about California's Proposition 65 (or Prop 65) you might have if you're not living in California.
Why does my product have a warning that says cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm?
The product has a warning to comply with a California law that applies only to consumers in California, called Proposition (Prop 65).
What is California’s Proposition 65, or Prop 65?
Prop 65 was passed by California voters in 1986. It requires that products sold to consumers in California have a specific warning if a product has any one of nearly 900 chemicals. It’s a “warning” law that does not place any specific limits on chemicals in products. The “chemicals” on the Prop 65 list include naturally-occurring heavy metals found in soils and the ocean that are absorbed by plants and ultimately end up in many all-natural, plant-based food, supplements, and cosmetic ingredients.
But I don’t live in California, why am I seeing this warning?
California law requires that consumers in California get this warning. But, because of modern-day distribution channels, it’s not logistically feasible to put a warning only on products that someone in California buys, versus one of the other 49 states. So we put the warning on certain products that we sell nationwide, just to be safe even though that’s not required under the law.
Is my product safe?
Yes, we take these products ourselves and we think they are safe to use as directed. Even according to the California agency in charge of Prop 65, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), a Prop 65 warning does not mean a product goes against any safety standards or requirements, and we believe our products are safe to use as directed.
As an example of how far-reaching Prop 65 is compared to federal standards, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has established an “Interim Reference Level” (IRL) for lead. IRL establishes the maximum daily intake recommended by the FDA. The IRL for lead is 12.5 micrograms of lead per day for adults, including women of childbearing age. By contrast, Prop 65 requires a warning where a product has at least .5 microgram of lead per serving, which is a level that is 1/25th of what the FDA deems safe for women of childbearing age.
If you ever have any concerns about our supplements and how the ingredients pertain to you and your health, we encourage you to chat with your doctor before adding anything new to your regimen.
What ingredient in this product triggers the warning?
It’s hard to say specifically. We put Prop 65 warnings on certain products because of possible naturally-occurring heavy metal content, such as lead. We do not purposefully add any heavy metals or other Prop 65 chemicals into any of our products. Many of our ingredients are all-natural, plant-based, and organic. Before such ingredients are harvested, they often absorb naturally-occurring heavy metals from the water and soil in the surrounding environment. The minute amounts of heavy metals in the various ingredients in a product, added up, are what sometimes trigger the very low warning threshold under Prop 65.
