CA Prop 65

Cal EPA Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment 12
Proposition 65 Clear and Reasonable Warnings
Questions and Answers for Businesses Revised - August 2017
warnings require a warning to be posted at each public entrance, but also require
warnings to be provided separately for consumer products, alcoholic beverages, food,
and enclosed parking facilities where such exposures occur on the premises in order for
the amusement park to receive full safe harbor protection (Section 25607.22).
Q39: The regulations for environmental exposures require the warning to include
a map. Does that mean a floor plan of the property or a map of the area showing
the location?
The “map” referenced in the regulations (now in Section 25604(a)(2)(B)) could be a floor
plan delineating the affected area(s), a map of the facility showing where exposures are
likely to occur, or a map of a community showing the geographic area affected.
Businesses should determine where exposures are likely to occur and place the
warnings at or near that location.
Environmental Exposure Warning Content
Q40: How specific must the description be in an environmental warning? Must a
specific area be described for each source of exposure or for each chemical
present, or only for the chemical listed in the warning?
The specific area must be described in the warning only for the chemical or chemicals
for which the warning is being provided. The warning should be provided close enough
to the source of exposure for the person seeing the warning to determine where and
how they may be exposed.
Examples of how a warning can identify the source of the exposure and be provided in
a manner that clearly associates it with the exposure can be found in the tailored
warning section of the regulation (see Sections 25607.20 and 25607.21 (enclosed
parking facilities), Sections 25607.24 and 25607.25 (petroleum products), Sections
25607.26 and 25607.27 (service stations and repair facilities), and Sections 25607.28
and 25607.29 (designated smoking areas).
Where a warning is being provided for multiple chemicals and/or multiple exposures, the
warning should describe the area in which an exposure to those chemicals can occur. It
may be appropriate in some circumstances to provide warnings in more than one
location in a facility so that the warning will be clearly associated with the source(s) of
exposure. For example, posting a sign at the entry of a facility that purports to provide a
warning for an exposure that is only likely to occur in one area of the facility, such as in
an art studio on the third floor of a building, would not be sufficiently associated with the
source of the exposure. Such a warning should be posted at entrances to that area of
the third floor. On the other hand, if a particular chemical exposure can occur
throughout a facility, for example exposures to a solvent from paint used throughout a