Prop 65 warnings on cleaning products, in plain words

What a California Proposition 65 warning means, why every Baja Supply label carries one, and where you will find it on the pail and on this site.

By Baja Supply 4 min read

Proposition 65 is a California right-to-know law: a business must warn before it exposes people to a chemical on the state's list. Every Baja Supply label carries a warning, because all three formulas contain formaldehyde and PAPALOTE™ also contains cocamide DEA. A warning tells you a listed chemical is there; it is not a ruling that a product is safe or unsafe.

What Proposition 65 is

Proposition 65 is the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, a California law that voters passed by initiative. It works in two steps.

First, the state publishes a list of chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive harm, and updates it at least once a year. The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) maintains the list.

Second, a business must give a clear and reasonable warning before it knowingly exposes a person to a listed chemical. Selling a product that contains one is the kind of act the law has in mind. The warning has to reach the person before the exposure happens.

The California Attorney General describes Proposition 65 as a right-to-know law. The warning is there so people can decide for themselves whether to accept, avoid or reduce an exposure.

What the warning means, and what it does not

A Proposition 65 warning tells you that a product can expose you to a chemical on the list. In the Attorney General's words, a warning is "not the same as a regulatory decision that a product is 'safe' or 'unsafe'".

Proposition 65 also works on its own terms. The Attorney General notes that meeting a federal standard for a chemical does not, by itself, settle whether a Proposition 65 warning is needed, because the law looks at exposure from the product.

If you want to know more about an exposure, the Attorney General points consumers to the business that makes or sells the product. For our products, that is us: hola@baja.supply or 1-800-670-5003.

Why our labels carry a warning

All three Baja Supply formulas contain formaldehyde, used as a preservative, at about 0.04 % by weight according to Section 3 of each Safety Data Sheet. PAPALOTE™ liquid laundry detergent also contains cocamide DEA (cocamide diethanolamine), a foam booster, at 0.1 to 0.5 %. Both are on the Proposition 65 list as chemicals known to cause cancer. So every pail carries a CA WARNING, and each warning names the chemicals in that formula:

Line Chemicals the warning names What they do in the formula
PAPALOTE™ liquid laundry detergent, 17 varieties Cocamide diethanolamine and formaldehyde Foam booster; preservative
SIESTA™ fabric softener, 7 varieties Formaldehyde Preservative
CAZUELA™ liquid dish soap Formaldehyde Preservative

Each warning is a single line that names the chemicals, says the risk is cancer, and points to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov, the state's warnings website. Our Proposition 65 page shows both warnings exactly as printed, with the products each one appears on.

Where you will find it

  • On the label of every pail.
  • On each product page and each ingredient page of this website.
  • In the quote review, before you send a request.
  • On our Proposition 65 page.

Each ingredient page also marks every ingredient and colorant that appears on the Proposition 65 list. The designated lists page groups, in one place, the 22 chemical lists that California's ingredient disclosure law names, Proposition 65 among them, with links to the agencies that publish them.

If you resell our products

If you resell our products in California, keep the label and its warning intact and visible. Our Terms of Sale ask the same of every customer who resells or distributes the products, for the Proposition 65 warning and for the pail's drowning warning.

Questions

Does a warning mean the product failed a safety test?

No. The warning is about exposure to a chemical on the state's list. The Attorney General says a warning is not a regulatory decision about whether a product is safe.

Why do the warnings name different chemicals?

Because the formulas differ. PAPALOTE™ contains cocamide DEA and formaldehyde. SIESTA™ and CAZUELA™ contain formaldehyde and no cocamide DEA.

Where can I read more?

The label points to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov, the State of California's warnings website. Our Proposition 65 page explains our warnings, and you can call us at 1-800-670-5003 with any question about a product.

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