California Love • Proposition 65
California’s Proposition 65 is just the tip of the iceberg. Kudos California. For the other 49 States and the District, who is looking out for you?
Here it is Proposition 65:
In 1986, California voters approved Proposition 65, an initiative to address their growing concerns about exposure to toxic chemicals. That initiative is officially known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986. The law requires California to publish a list of chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity, and for businesses with 10 or more employees to provide warnings when they knowingly and intentionally cause significant exposures to listed chemicals.
This list currently includes more than 850 chemicals. Proposition 65 does not ban or restrict the sale of chemicals on the list. The warnings are intended to help Californians make informed decisions about their exposure to these chemicals from the products they use and the places they go.
The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) administers the Proposition 65 program.
That is all of the toxic, manufactured, manmade products that we love for their affordable prices, but rarely calculate the true cost and toll they will have on our body and the environment. Well, California is standing up for you. In a nutshell, virtually no establishment or any of our homes would meet Proposition 65’s certification requirements. No one can state that nothing inside their home is toxic.
What the Proposition does is it forces us to be mindful and aware. It motivates businesses and individuals to calculate toxicity into their equations. In most fires, it’s toxic smoke from plastics and synthetics that kill long before the flames. It has started a movement where there are a few establishments working to certify they are a toxin-free zone—a place where your biochemical self will smile even if you are oblivious. Homeostasis is the state of perfect health. It’s an almost impossible state to maintain in modern society. All of the “stuff” that we love that loves to kill. Violent crime gets all the coverage, but in actuality, during our commutes and evening dinners we’ve welcomed into our worlds the real robbers of life: automobiles accidents, gasoline, oil, beauty and cleaning products, paint, furniture, microwaves, appliances, WiFi signals, Bluetooth, EMF (electromagnetic frequencies and emissions) sodium, artificial sweeteners, genetically modified food, hormone and antibiotic-filled meat—a cancer-causing bonanza, all while safely locked in our warm home sweet home 🏠. California has got your back for something most could care less about.
California has been the tip of the spear for quality of life issues for generations. A major catalyst was California’s own toxic smog endemic. Nothing like the lack of clean air to motivate and legislate. California has dramatically changed and impacted nationwide worker compensation laws. Professional athletes who can show they were ever injured in a game that was played in the state have a multitude of options and access to resources that no other state affords. Cell phone manufacturers were sued for selling a product that was not safe to use while driving which is why all phones now come with an earpiece. Currently, there are pending lawsuits against the many manufacturers of laptop computers. They sell a product that cannot be operated in an ergonomically correct manner. As a result, within the next year, we will see all laptops come with a peripheral keyboard and mouse. Although most won’t use them, manufacturers can at least say they gave you a safe option. To many, I am sure this seems heavy handed. But rest assured, your body’s cells are loving it and I am loving California for it.

