The OEHHA has issued a Safe Use Determination for certain eyewear products from The Vision Council member companies. A Prop 65 warning would not be required for these products.
California Proposition 65 (Prop 65) is the ‘Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986’, a ballot initiative passed overwhelmingly by Californian residents in November 1986. This unique right-to-know law requires the state to publish a list of chemicals that are known to cause cancer, birth defects and/or reproductive harm. First published in 1987, the list has evolved to approximately 900 chemicals.
Bisphenol A (BPA, CAS 80-05-7) has been on the Prop 65 list of chemicals since May 2015, as a chemical known to cause female reproductive toxicity. It is an essential chemical for polycarbonate plastics and BPA residues may be present in these plastics due to incomplete polymerization.
Since May 2016, enforcement actions against businesses that fail to warn consumers about exposure to BPA have resulted in several settlement agreements. These include food contact materials and articles, thermal paper and cell phone cases.
In April 2020, the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) issued a Safe Use Determination (SUD) for exposures to BPA from certain polycarbonate eyewear products (prescription glasses and sunglasses, over-the counter (OTC) reading glasses, non-prescription sunglasses, and safety glasses) by The Vision Council (TVC) member companies.
The BPA evaluation, using acetonitrile as solvent, in the temple, nose pad, frame and lens of these eyewear products, gives an exposure estimate that falls below the ‘Maximum Allowable Dose Level (MADL) of 3 µg/day (dermal exposure from solid materials) and would not require a Prop 65 warning.
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