Ingredient Disclosure Bill Tops NGOs' Priorities in California

Among several measures related to chemicals in products being considered by the California legislature this year, a bill on ingredient disclosure of cleaning products tops the priority list for several NGOs.

The Cleaning Product Right to Know Act (SB 258) would require such items to bear a label listing ingredients, plus pictograms communicating the potential health impacts of chemicals of concern. The producer would also have to have a website where additional information could be found.

The bill is co-sponsored by NGOs Environmental Working Group (EWG), Breast Cancer Prevention Partners (BCPP) and Women’s Voices for the Earth (WVE).

BCPP's senior policy strategist Nancy Buermeyer told Chemical Watch that its passage is overwhelmingly the priority for the NGO in California as it "speaks directly to our mission of understanding what chemicals are in products and giving consumers choices" as to whether they are exposed to them.

A similar measure (AB 708) was narrowly voted down last year, but Ms Buermeyer said she is "very optimistic" about its prospects.

Starting the bill in the Senate – rather than the Assembly, as happened with last year's – gives momentum, she said. In addition, this year's bill is backed by a broader coalition, including consumer safety and health organisations, as well as some industry groups and businesses such as the Honest Company and Seventh Generation.

However, more than 40 industry groups remain opposed to the measure as drafted. The American Cleaning Institute's Brian Sansoni told Chemical Watch the requirements are "unnecessary", given that voluntary industry initiatives already provide ingredient information to consumers.

But Bill Allayaud, EWG's California director of government affairs, said bill sponsors are having "productive stakeholder meetings with the opposition" – namely, ACI, the Consumer Specialty Products Association (CSPA), and the International Fragrance Association (Ifra). Like the BCPP, the EWG has named SB 258 its top priority in California.

Ms Buermeyer agreed that industry has begun to "sit down in a serious way" to discuss the bill. "Discussions in the past hadn't been negotiations so much as statements of position", she said, but industry is now taking part in more substantive dialogue.

A proposal in New York requiring increased ingredient disclosure in cleaning products may be a contributing factor toward this cooperation, she added. While the California measure would go beyond New York's regulations, said Ms Buermeyer, the latter is "one of those clear indicators" that sentiments on ingredient transparency are shifting.

And she's hopeful that if the measure goes through in California, it might not only benefit state consumers, but could also serve as the basis for a national standard.

Additional measures

Beyond ingredient disclosure, more than half a dozen measures dealing with chemicals in products are being backed by various NGOs.

Another priority for the EWG is a bill aimed at short-chain fluorinated chemicals in take-out food wrappers, said Mr Allayaud.

As amended, AB 958 would ban all long-chain perfluorinated and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS), including PFOA, from commerce. And it would make action on short-chain versions in food packaging a priority for California's Safer Consumer Products programme. EWG is co-sponsoring the measure with Clean Water Action.

Both NGOs are also backing AB 1575, a bill requiring salon products to be labelled for all ingredients (except fragrances), to protect worker health. WVE, BCPP, the Silent Spring Institute and the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics have likewise registered their support.

Other measures backed by consumer advocacy groups include:

> AB 1328, which would require disclosure of chemicals used in the drilling process, similarly to requirements for fracking;

> SB 602 and AB 1419, which both deal with issues related to pesticides; and

> a slate of measures addressing lead, including AB 1316 and four others.

The cut-off date for bills to pass out of their chamber of origin is 2 June.