In an article published on November 16, 2017 by regulatory news provider Chemical Watch, Julie A. Miller reported that the Californian Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has added perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA, CAS 335-67-1) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS, CAS 1763-23-1) as developmental toxicants to the list of chemicals known to the U.S. state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity (“Proposition 65 List”). OEHHA based its decision on findings by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that both chemicals cause adverse developmental effects. Industry groups, such as the American Chemistry Council (ACC), protested against the listing of PFOA and PFOS because EPA has only published non-regulatory guidance and not formally classified the chemicals as reproductive toxicants. Proposition 65 requires “businesses to inform Californians about exposures” to the listed chemicals. Miller explained that PFOA and PFOS have been widely used in various consumer products such as carpets, textiles, leather, non-stick cookware, and food packaging.
In October 2017, OEHHA also listed the flame retardant tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA, CAS 79-94-7) as a carcinogen under Proposition 65, as reported by Miller in an article published on November 7, 2017. TBBPA is included in the FACET inventory of food contact materials (FCMs), as well as in the SIN List of substances of very high concern.
Read more
Julie A. Miller (November 16, 2017). “California lists PFOA and PFOS as reproductive toxicants under Prop 65.” Chemical Watch
Julie A. Miller (November 7, 2017). “California lists TBBPA as carcinogen under Prop 65.” Chemical Watch
Kelly Franklin (September 19, 2016). “California proposes listing PFOA, PFOS under Prop 65.” Chemical Watch
