Study: California’s Prop 65 Labeling Law Actually Worked

FEATURING CAROLINE COX – A new study on the effectiveness of a labeling law in California has found that such regulations actually work. Anybody living in California has likely noticed Proposition 65 warning labels. They’re seen inside parking garages and even on coffee beans and are the result of a ballot initiative that passed in 1986 requiring that companies put warning labels on products that could contain significant amounts of chemicals known to cause cancer.

The study published this week in the Journal for Environmental Health found that hazardous lead content found in chili and tamarind candies, as well as in faux-leather purses declined significantly over several years. Both those types of products were known to have high lead contamination.

Caroline Cox, Senior Scientist with the Center for Environmental Health and leads the CEH’s research on toxic exposure.

**This segment was originally broadcast on March 28, 2019.