Q. What is Proposition 65 (Prop 65)?
A. Proposition 65, or “Prop 65,” was enacted by the State of California in 1986, as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act. Voters passed the proposition in response to growing concern about chemicals entering the environment and drinking water supplies.
Prop 65 requires companies to provide “clear and reasonable” warnings to consumers if their products contain a chemical, or chemicals, determined by the State of California to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity.
Many of these chemicals may be naturally present in the environment, for example, trace amounts found in soil. Prop 65 is among the strictest reporting laws in the nation.
Over 800 chemicals are currently listed under Prop 65, and the presence of these low chemical levels require warnings only. Prop 65 does not ban the sale or use of any product for health or safety reasons.
Q. What is Prop 65 warning?
A. The State of California has identified the following warnings to be clear and reasonable for consumer product protection:
"WARNING: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm."
“WARNING: Cancer and Reproductive Harm
www.P65Warnings.ca.gov
Q. What products require the Prop 65 warning?
A. Consumer products distributed or sold in California to consumers are subject to Prop 65 warning requirements. The law also covers warnings for environmental and workplace exposures to listed chemicals. Naturally occurring levels of chemicals found in foods do not require warnings.
Prop 65 warnings are required for products containing amounts of chemicals that exceed the State of California’s daily exposure thresholds, based on average consumption.
Q. What chemicals are subject to Prop 65 warning? Can I see them?
A. Under Prop 65, the State of California is required to maintain a list of chemicals that it identifies as carcinogens or reproductive toxicants. The current list of over 800 chemicals is routinely updated as chemicals are added or deleted.
The current list can be found at www.oehha.org/prop65.html.
Q. Why do my Xyngular products have this warning?
A. If you have lived in the state of California, you know that these warnings are very common. They’re found nearly everywhere. They are a requirement for nearly any organization that wants to do business in California, and Xyngular is no different. Because Xyngular seeks to comply to the strictest regulations of quality, Xyngular has voluntarily chosen to include Prop 65 warnings on our products sold to consumers in California.
Q. Where do these chemicals come from?
A. Many common ingredients and minerals, like cocoa, calcium and others can contain levels of Prop 65-listed chemicals. These may include lead and other heavy metals, which are widely distributed through soil, the air, water, and in food and food ingredients.
Xyngular does not add any lead or heavy metals to our products.
Q. What levels of Prop 65-listed chemicals trigger a warning label?
A. The State of California’s threshold limits are very strict. For carcinogens, anything above the “No Significant Risk Level” requires a label. This is the level of exposure that would result in one case of cancer in 100,000 individuals, who would be hypothetically exposed to high doses of the chemical every day over their lifetime.
Q. Is Xyngular compliant with federal safety guidelines?
A. Xyngular takes pride in being fully compliant with all federal guidelines for product safety, including those guidelines established by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The warning thresholds identified by Prop 65 are often drastically lower than any federal guideline.
Q. Where can I get more information about Prop 65?
A. You can visit the Proposition 65 website, maintained by the State of California, or call (916) 445-6900.
Visit the website at https://oehha.ca.gov/proposition-65
Q. Environmental Research Center (ERC) Proposition 65 Lawsuit - Xyngular Statement
A. In 2017, Environmental Research Center (ERC), a privately run “public interest” group in the state of California, filed a lawsuit against Xyngular claiming a violation of Prop 65. ERC claimed that Xyngular is required to provide warnings for lead for several of their products under Prop 65 requirements.
This is not a class action lawsuit, and ERC does not allege that any California consumer has been hurt. ERC is the sole plaintiff making these Proposition 65 claims against Xyngular. This lawsuit also does not seek to recall or ban the sale of any Xyngular products to consumers within the state of California. The lawsuit only alleges that Xyngular is required to provide product warnings. The ERC was seeking payment of certain civil penalties, as well as reimbursement of ERC’s attorneys’ fees and costs.
Xyngular does not intentionally add lead to any of its products, lead being an element found commonly in soil, water, and ingredients from calcium to chocolate. Xyngular does not believe that Proposition 65 requires us to make any changes to any of our product formulas, and the safety and quality of our products remain to be a top priority.
Xyngular proudly stands behind the safety and quality of its products, which meet all relevant U.S. federal standards of safety and quality. While Xyngular supports Proposition 65, it is important to remember that this is a “right to know” statute, and that the inclusion of a warning does not mean that a product is necessarily unsafe.
Despite this, Xyngular voluntarily elected to provide Proposition 65 warnings in the state of California well before this lawsuit was filed by the ERC.
The ERC lawsuit is just one of many in a larger campaign currently targeting the nutritional supplement industry. Since 2010, ERC has issued over 300 Prop 65 claims concerning other companies, including our competitors and many of the largest supplement companies in the world.