California Proposition 65: OEHHA Proposes Regulatory Amendments

Key Takeaways

What Happened: The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) released draft amendments to the Proposition 65 warning regulations for discussion at a July 30, 2026, pre-regulatory workshop.

Who Is Impacted: The draft could most affect manufacturers and retailers of foods and botanical products, as well as manufacturers and retailers of off-road and off-highway parts.

Action Item: Manufacturers and retailers subject to Prop 65 should consider submitting in-person oral public comments at OEHHA’s pre-regulatory workshop on July 30, 2026, or written public comments by the deadline of September 7, 2026.

Overview of Proposed Amendments

California’s Proposition 65 (Prop 65) requires businesses to provide “clear and reasonable” warnings before knowingly and intentionally exposing individuals to chemicals listed as known to the State to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity, unless an exemption applies. On July 22, 2026, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) released draft regulatory amendments proposing six substantive changes to the Prop 65 regulations, detailed below.

1. Narrowing the “Naturally Occurring” Exemption

Under the current regulations, consumption of food does not constitute an “exposure” under Prop 65 to the extent a listed chemical is naturally occurring. A chemical is naturally occurring if it is an inherent component of the food or is absorbed from the natural environment in which the food is grown, raised, or obtained. The exclusion does not extend to amounts attributable to known human activity. Producers and manufacturers also must use good agricultural and manufacturing practices to reduce natural contaminants to the lowest level currently feasible.

If a food contains both naturally occurring and human-caused amounts of a listed chemical, only the portion attributable to human activity is treated as an exposure and counted in determining whether the applicable Prop 65 safe-harbor level is exceeded.

Presently, “human activity” does not include ordinary agricultural practices such as sowing, planting, irrigation, and plowing, but it does include the addition of chemicals to irrigation water applied to soil or crops. The proposed amendment would expand the category of activities that constitute “human activity” to provide that extracting or concentrating a listed chemical from any source, including a plant, may constitute human activity.

Impact: High. The proposed amendment could result in some or all of a listed chemical present in food through extraction or concentration being treated as attributable to “human activity” and included in the Prop 65 exposure calculation. Botanical supplements, plant extracts, essential oils, concentrated foods and beverages, and non-food products formulated with food-derived ingredients that have historically not been subject to the warning requirement may become subject to it without any change in formulation. Food and beverage products likely to be most affected by the proposal include those containing essential oils, botanical isolates, purified flavor constituents, concentrated herbal extracts, plant powders, plant protein concentrates, and highly concentrated juice or syrup ingredients.

2. Short-Form Warning Could Require Naming “One or More Chemicals”

The regulations currently require that, when providing short-form Proposition 65 warnings, manufacturers must name at least one listed Prop 65 chemical known to cause cancer or reproductive harm. The proposed amendments would modify the short-form warning options from requiring the identification of at least one chemical to allowing for the identification of “one or more chemicals.”

Impact: Low. The practical effect is unclear. The “one or more” language preserves the option to name a single chemical, so on its face the revision does not compel a business to list every listed chemical present in the product.

3. Warnings for Internet Purchases

The current regulatory text states that, for internet purchases, the warning requirements are satisfied if the full-form or short-form warning is provided only on the product display page, or through another prominently displayed warning provided before the online purchase is completed. The proposed amendment would require a full-form or short-form warning on the product and a full-form or short-form warning on the product display page.

Impact: Low. OEHHA stated in its 2016 guidance that the existing safe harbor regulations pertaining to internet and catalog sales require a warning on the webpage or in the catalog as well as on the product. OEHHA reiterated this point in 2024. This proposed amendment is therefore intended to codify existing guidance, rather than creating a new obligation. The proposal would materially increase the compliance burden for businesses selling Prop 65-covered products online by converting OEHHA’s existing guidance into an express regulatory requirement.

4. QR Codes as a Safe Harbor Warning Method.

The proposed amendment would expressly allow businesses to provide a consumer product warning through a QR code placed on a label, product labeling, posted sign, shelf tag, or shelf sign.

Impact: Low. OEHHA recognized QR codes as a method of providing warnings in its prior guidance. This proposed amendment therefore codifies existing guidance, rather than creating a new obligation.

5. Retailer Responsibility to Provide Warnings

Current regulations identify circumstances in which a retailer is responsible for providing a warning to the public (e.g., when a retailer covers, obscures, or alters a warning affixed to a product, or fails to display warning materials provided by manufacturers). The proposed amendment would offer more simplified language describing such circumstances.

Impact: Low. The revised language is intended as simplification rather than substantive change.

6. New industry-specific warning: Off-Road Vehicle and Off-Road Equipment Parts

The regulations prescribe tailored warning methods and content for particular exposure categories—alcoholic beverages, dental care, wood dust, and diesel engines, among others. The proposed amendment would add a new category of prescribed warnings for exposures from off-road vehicle and off-road equipment parts.

Impact: High. Retailers and manufacturers of off-road and off-highway parts would need to comply with the specific method and content requirements, rather than relying on the general consumer product warning methods and content.

Next Steps

OEHHA will hold a pre-regulatory workshop to discuss potential amendments to Proposition 65 regulations on July 30, 2026. Impacted businesses should participate if they wish to provide in-person oral public comments at the workshop or submit written comments on or before Monday, September 7, 2026.