Prop 65
Should I be concerned about Earth's Natural Clay products?
According to proposition 65, many fruits and vegetables would be included in the ban as written by California legislators. For example, carrots and green beans both contain more than twenty times the legal limit of arsenic, as defined by the proposition.
As a compromise, natural products are spared from conforming to prop 65 standards: if a product is completely natural, businesses don’t have to report the otherwise banned substance.
Earth's Natural Clay is 100% natural! (it's in our name)
Fruits, veggies and Earth's Natural Clay contain tiny bits of natural (and harmless) lead, silica, etc which is on the prop 65 list. Like other natural products, Earth's Natural Clay falls under the exempted products definition, but to be safe we want to make sure you are aware of Prop 65 and what the warning means.
A Prop 65 warning does not necessarily mean the product is dangerous.
Earths Natural Clay tests all its ingestible products for Lead, Cadmium, Mercury and Arsenic. Used properly, we believe our products pose no health risk. We offer the warning to protect our company from lawsuits by individuals and groups looking for businesses that allegedly do not comply with Prop 65.
What Is Proposition 65?
In 1986, California voters approved an initiative to address their growing concerns about exposure to toxic chemicals. That initiative became the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, better known by its original name of Proposition 65. Proposition 65 requires the State to publish a list of chemicals known to cause cancer or birth defects or other reproductive harm. This list, which must be updated at least once a year, has grown to include approximately 800 chemicals since it was first published in 1987.
Proposition 65 requires businesses to notify Californians about significant amounts of chemicals in the products they purchase, in their homes or workplaces, or that are released into the environment. By providing this information, Proposition 65 enables Californians to make informed decisions about protecting themselves from exposure to these chemicals. Proposition 65 also prohibits California businesses from knowingly discharging significant amounts of listed chemicals into sources of drinking water.
The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) administers the Proposition 65 program. OEHHA, which is part of the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA), also evaluates all currently available scientific information on substances considered for placement on the Proposition 65 list.
What kinds of chemicals require this warning?
Prop 65 applies to over 800 chemicals identified by the State of California as carcinogens and reproductive toxins. The list contains a wide range of naturally occurring and synthetic chemicals that are known to cause cancer or birth defects or other reproductive harm. These chemicals include additives or ingredients in pesticides, common household products, food, drugs, dyes, and solvents. Listed chemicals may also be used in manufacturing and construction, or they may be byproducts of chemical processes such as motor vehicle exhaust.
Prop 65 does not limit in any way, nor requires the disclosure of, the types or amounts of chemicals that can be put into a product as long as the warning is given. It does set a “safe harbor” exposure level for many of the governed chemicals, below which no warning is required. Safe Harbor Levels are often much lower than those set by the FDA, EPA and WHO.
What if I do not live in California?
The law applies to all products sold in California whether or not the manufacturer sells the product in California or intends for the product to be sold in California. We source and sell our clay in California, so we cannot limit the labeling only to products/orders we ship directly to California.
Proposition 65
The following warning statements are required by California law and apply to all the products available from us:
WARNING: This product contains a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer |
WARNING: This product contains a chemical known to the State of California to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm. |
This warning is provided to you courtesy of the Earth's Natural Clay and applies to all products.