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Home >> Public Affairs >> Product Safety >> California Rejects CPSC Position & Will Ban Phthalates Starting January 1, 2009California Rejects CPSC Position & Will Ban Phthalates Starting January 1, 2009Despite the CPSC is advisory opinion that the phthalate ban only applies to products manufactured after February 10, 2009, California will enforce a statewide ban on phthalates beginning January 1st. The new Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, signed into law last August, allows California’s pre-existing phthalate legislation (AB 1108) to supercede the new federal law. In recognition of the State’s authority to enforce its phthalates ban, Jerry Brown, California’s Attorney General, issued a letter to CPSC General Counsel Cheryl Falvey declaring that toys and child care articles containing excessive levels of phthalates cannot be sold or distributed in California after January 1, 2009, no matter when or where they were manufactured. In short, there will be retroactive application of the California phthalate ban effective January 1, 2009 and the CPSC position to the contrary does not matter if you are doing business in California. The Attorney General, and other public enforcers, can and will enforce California’s phthalate ban effective January 1, 2009. The Brown letter also addressed the application of Proposition 65 to the phthalate debate and concluded that Proposition 65 applies to products regulated by both AB 1108 and the CPSIA, and will continue to do so. Therefore any company doing business in California must now take a renewed look at Proposition 65, especially if your products contain phthalates. Manufacturers of products containing banned chemicals must provide a "clear and reasonable" warning before knowingly and intentionally exposing anyone to a listed chemical. For consumer products the warning can be in the form of a label on the product. Once a chemical is listed, businesses have 12 months to comply with warning requirements. Click here to view the California AG letter to the CPSC. |
