Law Commons^™

The Continued Success Of Proposition 65 In Reducing Toxic Exposures, Clifford Rechtschaffen, Patrick Williams

Publications

California’s Proposition 65 is by now a well-known regulatory tool for warning consumers about the potentially toxic components of products they consume or to which they are exposed. Rechtschaffen and Williams argue that while Proposition 65 has been subject to some abuses, it has also brought about important reductions in exposures to toxic substances. To make their point, they examine product reformulations caused by enforcement of Proposition 65’s warning requirements over the past five years.

How To Reduce Lead Exposures With One Simple Statute: The Experience Of Proposition 65, Clifford Rechtschaffen

Publications

Human exposure to lead is one of the most serious environmental health threats today. Lead causes a variety of adverse health effects and is particularly harmful to children. Unfortunately, the current regulation of lead exposures is fragmented and often unsuccessful. California's Proposition 65, a right-to-know initiative, however, has achieved some noteworthy successes in reducing public exposures to lead. Proposition 65 has spurred faster and more significant lead reductions than federal law by prompting companies to reformulate products and change their manufacturing processes. This Article first discusses the hazards and uses of lead. The author next describes several instances that demonstrate …

The Warning Game: Evaluating Warnings Under California's Proposition 65, Clifford Rechtschaffen

Publications

In 1986, California voters overwhelmingly approved the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, an initiative better known as Proposition 65. Voters passed the initiative to address the failure of government institutions to protect Californians from health threats posed by hazardous chemicals. Specifically, voters declared their rights to safe drinking water, to information about chemical exposures, and to strict enforcement of toxics laws. The statute has received extraordinary national attention for its innovative regulatory approaches, and has been alternatively labeled revolutionary and wildly irresponsible.

This Article analyzes how Proposition 65's warning requirement has fared in practice. Proposition 65 …