Beyond Prop 65: The Plaintiffs’ Bar Targets Other Statutes Requiring Chemical Disclosures

Receiving a demand letter related to the alleged nondisclosure of a specific chemical may seem like business as usual in California given the extensive application of Proposition 65 (Prop 65). However, the plaintiffs’ bar is looking beyond Prop 65 to identify other specific and granular statutory disclosure requirements. In particular, there’s been an uptick in demand letters accusing companies of not complying with newer California legislation, including:

• Cleaning Product Right to Know Act of 2017: This law requires manufacturers of certain products, including air care products, automative products, general cleaning products, and polish or floor maintenance products, to disclose the presence of certain chemicals on the product label (effective January 1, 2021) and website (effective January 1, 2020). Specifically, the act requires disclosure of chemicals that are included in 22 separate designated lists compiled by various state, federal, and international agencies. Manufacturers are required to disclose the presence of intentionally added ingredients in their products that appear on these lists, as well as fragrance allergens. The act also mandates that manufacturers make available certain information on their websites, including nonfunctional constituents, the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) number for any intentionally added ingredient or nonfunctional constituent identified, and the functional purpose each intentionally added ingredient serves.
• Chemical Disclosures for Cookware: As of January 1, 2024, California’s Health and Safety Code requires cookware manufacturers to disclose on their products intentionally added chemicals that (1) have been identified as candidate chemicals that exhibit a hazard trait or an environmental or toxicological endpoint that meets criteria specified in Department of Toxic Substances Control regulations and published on the Department of Toxic Substance Control’s website, and (2) are in the handle of the product or in any product surface that comes into contact with food, foodstuffs, or beverages.
• Menstrual Products Right to Know Act of 2017: Under this law, a package or box containing menstrual products manufactured on or after January 1, 2023, must have a list of all the ingredients in the product by order of predominance by weight. The ingredients must also be posted on the manufacturer’s website. While manufacturers can prevent disclosure of ingredients that are confidential business information, certain ingredients are excluded from this protection and must be disclosed. Specifically, manufacturers must disclose the presence of (1) intentionally added ingredients or combination of ingredients that appear in 22 separate designated lists compiled by various state, federal, and international agencies, and (2) fragrance allergens present at or above 10 ppm.

The above is by no means an exhaustive list of the statutes’ requirements. Instead, we hope this discussion serves as a reminder that there are requirements beyond Prop 65 that consumer products companies should be aware of and keep in mind when preparing their labels and websites. For questions about chemical disclosures on consumer products, or compliance with other laws affecting consumer products, please reach out to the authors of this Blog or any of their colleagues on Arnold & Porter’s Consumer Products team.

© Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP 2025 All Rights Reserved. This Blog post is intended to be a general summary of the law and does not constitute legal advice. You should consult with counsel to determine applicable legal requirements in a specific fact situation.