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

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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 …