I recently moved to California. Before i moved, people asked me “why are you moving there, its so bad?”. Now that I’m here, i understand it less. The state is beautiful. There is so much to do.
I know the cost of living is high, and people think the gun control laws are ridiculous (I actually think they are reasonable, for the most part). There is a guy I work with here that says “the policies are dumb” but can’t give me a solid answer on what is so bad about it.
So, what is it that California does (policy-wise) that people hate so much?
The biggest issue with Prop 65 is that the lost of chemicals includes things that cause cancer under specific conditions that consumers aren’t likely to encounter and chemicals only known to cause cancer in animals. Ceramic fiber is a listed chemical, which means you need a Prop 65 label on ceramic mugs, even though ceramic fiber exposure would only occur upon breaking the mug and the effects would be negligible unless you’re crushing mugs up into powder and railing the lines like Tony Montana.
Ok so you made me check. None of ceramic cups I have in my cupboard has this warning.
I see it is still listed: https://oehha.ca.gov/proposition-65/chemicals/ceramic-fibers-airborne-particles-respirable-size
So either these companies are violation of the law or (more likely) their product to comply.
Also keep in mind that prop 65’s name is: The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986
One of the main goals is to protect our water from pollution, which even if the cups aren’t carcinogenic when aren’t broken the use of the chemical to produce it will likely end up in water due to production process. Also the chemical will be exposed to the environment once the cup is tossed away (especially after it breaks)
There’s a picture of a mug on the Wikipedia page with the warning.
Furthermore, Prop 65’s name isn’t all it does. The Prop 65 labels you see in products are there because of the second part of the act. “No person in the course of doing business shall knowingly and intentionally expose” anyone to those chemicals “without first giving clear and reasonable warning.”
That’s what the warning labels are for. It has little to do with the production process and disposal process, and is there to warn the consumer of the final product being purchased and what it contains.