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More Toxic Chemicals to Be Added to Calif.'s Proposition 65 List10-02-15 | News

More Toxic Chemicals to Be Added to Calif.'s Proposition 65 List
Glyphosate, a Roundup Herbicide, Among Pesticides Soon to Be Identified As Carcinogens in Calif.

Roundup will soon be identified in California as a carcinogen, under Proposition 65.

California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment plans to identify the herbicide glyphosate, also known as Roundup, and three pesticides as carcinogens under Proposition 65.

In 1986, California voters approved Proposition 65, an initiative that became the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986. Proposition 65 requires the state to publish a list of chemicals known to known to cause cancer or birth defects or other reproductive harm. This list is updated at least once a year, and has grown to include some 800 chemicals.

Proposition 65 requires businesses to notify Californians about significant amounts of chemicals in the products they purchase, in their homes or workplaces, or that are released into the environment. Proposition 65 also prohibits California businesses from knowingly discharging significant amounts of listed chemicals into sources of drinking water.

The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) administers the Proposition 65 program. OEHHA, which is part of the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA), also evaluates all currently available scientific information on substances considered for placement on the Proposition 65 list.

Glyphosate, tetrachlorvinphos, parathion and malathion will now be added to the list, according to OEHHA.

The law's labor code mechanism allows listing of chemicals already linked to cancer by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

A document IARC published on its website earlier this year concluded malathion and glyphosate are probably carcinogenic to humans and classified the other two pesticides are possible carcinogens.

"California's taking an important step toward protecting people and wildlife from this toxic pesticide," said Nathan Donley, a scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity. "More than 250 million pounds of glyphosate are used each in the United States, and the science is clear that it's a threat to public health and countless wildlife species."

Information on the proposed listings is available at https://oehha.ca.gov/prop65/CRNR_notices/admin_listing/intent_to_list/090415LCset27.html.