The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) proposes significant revisions to Proposition 65 clear and reasonable warning regulations for short-form warnings. Prop65 regulations allow companies to use a short-form warning label in certain situations though, many companies began to over-utilize the short-form warning.

When the warning requirements took effect, OEHHA included a short-form warning option as an acceptable alternative to the revised requirements for consumer product exposure warnings and many companies use this option. Its advantages include shorter language that can fit on a product’s label or packaging and the ability to provide a compliant warning without identifying at least one chemical listed under Prop65 that triggers the warning, which is now a requirement for consumer product exposure warnings under OEHHA’s revised regulations.

OEHHA has also expressed concerns regarding the reliance on short-form warnings when label or packaging space is not an issue, despite that such use is in compliance with OEHHA’s regulations and guidance. OEHHA’s proposal to amend its regulations will substantially constrict the circumstances when a short-form warning is permissible, as well as lengthening the warning by now requiring the inclusion of a Prop65 listed substance. Also, the short form warnings would no longer be allowed for the internet and catalogs.