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In December 2025, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), the state agency responsible for implementing Proposition 65 (Prop 65), issued two "Information Letters" regarding Prop 65 compliance issues. Each is discussed below.
Warnings for Receipts/Labels Accompanying a Consumer Purchase
On December 8, 2025, OEHHA issued an Information Letter to provide guidance regarding Prop 65 warnings for Bisphenol S (BPS) in receipt paper and shipping labels. BPS was first listed under Prop 65 on December 29, 2023, for reproductive toxicity, based on the female reproductive endpoint. BPS was then listed for male reproductive toxicity on January 8, 2025, and again for developmental toxicity on December 8, 2025. Since its listing became effective, hundreds of businesses have received 60-day Notices of Violation (NOV) claiming that companies have not provided the "clear and reasonable" warnings for BPS based on its claimed presence in thermal receipt paper. OEHHA states that it received multiple questions about the appropriate Prop 65 warnings for receipts and shipping labels containing BPS and thus issued a letter to clarify these requirements.
OEHHA first confirms in the Information Letter that warning requirements "apply to items that accompany the purchase of consumer goods, such as receipts, labels, tags, product stickers, shipping materials, packaging, and instructions/manuals, whether the purchase is made in person or online." OEHHA's reasoning is that while such items may not themselves be consumer products, there can still be a "consumer product exposure" from a person's acquisition or purchase of a consumer product.
Warning requirements thus could be triggered for various entities, including, for example, a consumer product manufacturer that uses packaging or manuals containing BPS, or retail sellers that use thermal receipts containing BPS. With regard to retail sellers, OEHHA notes two issues:
- For all consumer product exposures, a retail seller is responsible for providing a warning under the circumstances set forth in its regulations at Section 25600.2. Importantly, under these regulations, when a retail seller's only knowledge of an exposure occurs after receiving a 60-day NOV, that retail seller has five business days to correct violations and avoid further liability.
- Prop 65 warnings must be provided before an exposure occurs. OEHHA thus clarifies that a warning printed on the receipt or label itself would not be sufficient. Instead, OEHHA notes that it is aware of businesses placing a warning at or near the cash registers, which then provides the customer with the option to choose a receipt via e-mail rather than taking a printed one. In addition, although not required, OEHHA "encourages" companies to "inform consumers that a particular warning is being given for a receipt or label, rather than an exposure caused by something else."
In addition, OEHHA recommends that businesses consider not only consumer exposures to BPS, but occupational exposure for any workers handling receipts or labels containing BPS.
While the questions received related to BPS, the guidance provided is broader and potentially applicable to other Prop 65 substances in components of consumer products that can create consumer product exposures. Companies are encouraged to ensure that any Prop 65 determinations focus on any consumer product itself and related items, including packaging, labels, and receipts.
Exposures to Vinyl Acetate from Consumer Products
On December 23, 2025, OEHHA issued an Information Letter to provide guidance related to vinyl acetate warnings under Prop 65. Vinyl acetate was added to the Prop 65 List as a carcinogen on January 3, 2025, with warning requirements effective on January 3, 2026. In its Information Letter, OEHHA clarifies that while vinyl acetate is mainly used in the production of polymers and copolymers (e.g., polyvinyl acetate (PVA), polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl acetals, ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymers, polyvinyl chloride-acetate copolymers, vinyl acetate-vinyl laurate copolymers), the only substance listed under Prop 65 is vinyl acetate (Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number® (CAS RN®) 108-05-4). OEHHA states that the monomer vinyl acetate "is uncommon in consumer products, although residual unreacted monomer may be present in some products made with vinyl acetate polymers and copolymers."
OEHHA clarifies that private parties considering providing a 60-day NOV to an entity for failure to warn regarding exposure to vinyl acetate should be aware that the "fact that a consumer product contains a vinyl acetate-based polymer or copolymer is not, by itself, factual information sufficient to establish a potential exposure to vinyl acetate." OEHHA goes on to state:
The ideal test for this chemical would reflect the amount of vinyl acetate released from the product during use or at other times when people could be exposed; tests which reflect the vinyl acetate present in the product at such times would also be useful. A test should not, however, reflect the amount of vinyl acetate obtained from dissolving vinyl acetate-containing polymers in a manner which would not otherwise occur during the foreseeable use, purchase, storage, maintenance, or repair of the product.
This Information Letter is interesting, as OEHHA is proactively providing guidance and setting forth limitations regarding the information needed to support a 60-day NOV.
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