Prop 65 formaldehyde warning

When a Prop 65 warning for formaldehyde may be needed, and what the safe-harbor wording looks like

Direct answer. A Prop 65 warning for formaldehyde may be needed when a business knowingly and intentionally exposes a person to listed formaldehyde and no exemption in the statute applies. OEHHA’s Formaldehyde (gas) page shows cancer currently listed, date of listing 01/01/1988, basis the State’s Qualified Experts, and a note that it is listed as Formaldehyde (gas). That page publishes No Significant Risk Level (NSRL): 40 µg/day, under cancer. It does not print a maximum allowable dose level (MADL). For a MADL, or for any route that page does not print, see OEHHA. This page does not state a ppm figure. P65Warnings.ca.gov lists the same cancer line, dated 01/01/1988, basis the State’s Qualified Experts. Its formaldehyde fact sheet says Formaldehyde (gas) is on the list because it can cause cancer, and that exposure can cause leukemia and cancers of the nose, throat, and sinuses. Because that listing is cancer, the consumer-product safe-harbor sentence in OEHHA’s final regulatory text for 27 CCR § 25603 is the carcinogen sentence, which names the listed chemical. This page does not decide that any product needs a warning. It is not legal advice.

Prop 65 Warning Manager (Shopify App Store · Write a review) displays California Prop 65 warnings on product pages and keeps an audit trail of warning edits, assignments, and storefront activation events. The listing says every warning needs merchant approval before it goes live, and that warnings are published from templates citing 27 CCR §§ 25601–25607. The app does not decide whether an exposure requires a warning. This page is the formaldehyde listing and safe-harbor wording reading aid — not a determination for any SKU.

Related: CLPLens — Hazard pictograms on the product page, not only the parcel.

Free check first: Prop 65 warning question check runs in your browser and sends nothing. Describe a product and see which list names and 27 CCR warning rules to read.

Checklist before you treat formaldehyde as in or out of a warning

The endpoint OEHHA and P65Warnings state

OEHHA’s Formaldehyde (gas) page, as read for this guide, shows one chemical-status line: cancer, currently listed. The listing details are date of listing 01/01/1988 and basis the State’s Qualified Experts. The safe-harbor line on that page is No Significant Risk Level (NSRL): 40 µg/day. The note says listed as Formaldehyde (gas). The page’s public-notice titles include a priorities document on potential birth defects or other reproductive harm. That title is not a second listing line on the chemical-status table. This page does not treat it as one. The P65Warnings chemical page repeats cancer, 01/01/1988, basis the State’s Qualified Experts. The fact sheet says Formaldehyde (gas) is on the Proposition 65 list because it can cause cancer, and that exposure to formaldehyde can cause leukemia and cancers of the nose, throat, and sinuses. Those are the endpoints those pages state.

Furniture and wood products, only as the fact sheets state them

The formaldehyde fact sheet says exposure occurs by breathing air that contains formaldehyde, and names sources that include some furniture products made with formaldehyde-containing adhesives, paints, lacquers, and other coatings, and composite wood products made with formaldehyde-containing adhesives such as particleboard, plywood, and fiberboard, which may be used in furniture, cabinets, shelves, doors, and wall and flooring materials. The furniture products fact sheet says furniture products may be made with Proposition 65-listed chemicals, including formaldehyde released from some composite wood (for example, particleboard and plywood) and coatings (for example, paints and lacquers). The same furniture page says some furniture products made with listed chemicals may not carry a Proposition 65 warning because they may not cause exposures high enough to require one, and that not all furniture products are made with chemicals on the list. The chemical page lists Furniture Products among possible exposure places. Those are the furniture and wood statements those pages make. This page does not add a product they do not name.

Safe-harbor wording in §§ 25601–25603

Section 25601 is the clear-and-reasonable frame. Section 25602 is the method of transmission. Section 25603 is the content. OEHHA’s final regulatory text says a long-form consumer-product warning includes the warning symbol, the word “WARNING:” or the words “CA WARNING:” or “CALIFORNIA WARNING:”, and an endpoint sentence. For a listed carcinogen, the words are: “This product can expose you to chemicals including [name of one or more chemicals], which is [are] known to the State of California to cause cancer. For more information go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov.” The brackets are the regulation’s placeholders. The same text says that where the warning is for a single chemical, the words “chemicals including” may be deleted from that sentence. The name to read against the live list is Formaldehyde (gas). Short-form content, including the chemical name in the short sentence, is the short-form warning. Cadmium and lead are different listings: Prop 65 cadmium warning and Prop 65 lead warning.

What this page is not

Related pages

Not legal advice. Confirm the OEHHA Formaldehyde (gas) page, P65Warnings.ca.gov, Health and Safety Code §§ 25249.6 and 25249.10, and 27 CCR §§ 25601–25603 before you treat a formaldehyde exposure as in or out of a warning. The app displays warning content you approve.