Prop 65 FAQs

Proposition 65 (known as Prop 65) is a California labeling law meant to notify residents in California of exposure to any of over 800 chemicals and heavy metals at certain threshold limits. For more information go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov.

It is important to understand that Prop 65 warning notifications are only required under California law for residents of California. It is not a Federal law and it is not intended to ban the sale of any products in California, rather to simply require warnings.

As stated by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, a “Proposition 65 warning does not necessarily mean a product is in violation of any product-safety standards or requirements.” ⁽¹⁾

Yes. Businesses with less than 10 employees and government agencies are exempt from Proposition 65’s warning requirements and prohibition on discharges into drinking water sources. ⁽⁹⁾

As Perfect Supplements is under 10 employees, we are currently exempt from this labeling requirement. Nonetheless, for full transparency, we will voluntarily show the Prop 65 warning to California residents when necessary.

A business has “safe harbor” from Proposition 65 warning requirements or discharge prohibitions if exposure to a chemical occurs at or below these levels.⁽⁹⁾

In plain terms, if a product has under a set threshold level for a chemical or heavy metal, it does not need to display the warning. The threshold limits vary from chemical to chemical.

California uses this criteria when determining the threshold limit – “…that the exposure will have no observable effect assuming exposure at one thousand (1000) times the level in question…”⁽¹⁰⁾

Again, we encourage you to do your own research, but here is our reading of the regulation. They are looking at lead for what is called the “no observable effect level” (NOEL). They then decided to build in a very large safety margin into the NOEL by dividing it by 1,000 and using that as the threshold level.  

This means companies must put a warning on their product if the lead levels are 1/1000 of the no observable effect level (NOEL).

Obviously, levels will vary greatly based on where the food is grown, how it is grown and the manner in which it is processed.  

One of the best primary sources we have found for looking at lead levels in food is The US FDA Total Diet Study (2006-2013). The FDA samples a wide variety of foods over years and reports on, among other things, heavy metal levels in their testing.

To give you a point of reference, below we show a variety of foods from the FDA Total Diet Study ⁽⁷⁾ and both their average and maximum lead levels that were observed in the study, as calculated for a serving.

No. As stated by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, a “Proposition 65 warning does not necessarily mean a product is in violation of any product-safety standards or requirements.”⁽¹⁾

We require all of our ingredient suppliers to provide lab assays showing that they meet or exceed any established federal guidelines for heavy metals. In addition, throughout the year we do spot testing of our finished products.

In addition, because we value any initiative that encourages testing and transparency, we are voluntarily complying with Prop 65 even though our company is exempt because of the low number of employees.

We applaud the intent of Prop 65 – we are all for transparency and lab testing. The problem is, with threshold limits for lead set so far below other agencies, it creates a situation where so many products carry a warning, it starts to lose its significance. We are hopeful that changes will be made to the thresholds limits in Prop 65 to make it more impactful.

We will continue to provide lab testing and research to our customers so they can make the most informed decisions for themselves and their loved ones.

Any questions – please let us know!