Chemicals Listed Effective December 4, 2015 as Known to the State of California to Cause Cancer: Aloe Vera, Non-Decolorized Whole Leaf Extract and Goldenseal Root Powder

Dec 4, 2015

Effective December 4, 2015 the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) is adding Aloe vera, non-decolorized whole leaf extract and Goldenseal root powder to the list of chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer for purposes of the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Proposition 65¹).

Health and Safety Code section 25249.8(a) incorporates California Labor Code section 6382(b)(1) into Proposition 65. Regulations describing the process for listing chemicals via the Labor Code are set out in Title 27, Cal. Code of Regs., section 25904. The law requires that certain substances identified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) be listed as known to cause cancer under Proposition 65. Labor Code section 6382(b)(1) refers to substances identified as human or animal carcinogens by IARC. An explanation of the carcinogenicity classifications used by IARC, and the Monographs development and peer review by the international Working Groups of scientific experts convened by IARC, may be found at the following URL: http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Preamble/CurrentPreamble.pdf (IARC Preamble).

The basis for the listing of Aloe vera, non-decolorized whole leaf extract and Goldenseal root powder was described in a public notice published in the April 24, 2015, issue of the California Regulatory Notice Register (Register 2015, No. 17-Z). The title of the notice was “Notice of Intent to List Chemicals by the Labor Code Mechanism: Aloe Vera, Whole Leaf Extract and Goldenseal Root Powder.” The publication of the notice initiated a public comment period. We received thirty-five public comments. The comments and OEHHA’s responses are posted with the Notice of Intent to List.

A complete, updated Proposition 65 list is published elsewhere in this issue of the California Regulatory Notice Register and is available on the OEHHA website.

Chemical	CAS No.	Endpoint	Listing Mechanism*
Aloe vera, non-decolorized whole leaf extract^a	---	Cancer	LC
Goldenseal root powder^b	---	Cancer	LC

*Listing mechanism: LC – “Labor Code” mechanism (Health and Safety Code section 25249.8(a) and Title 27 Cal. Code of Regs. section 25904)

Footnotes and References

^a Aloe vera, non-decolorized whole leaf extract consists of the liquid portion of the Aloe vera leaf and is a natural constituent² of the Aloe barbadensis Millerplant.
^b Goldenseal root powder is a natural constituent³ of the goldenseal plant (Hydrastis Canadensis)

¹ Health and Safety Code, section 25249.5,et seq.
² Regulations concerning naturally-occuring chemicals in foods can be found in Title 27, Cal. Code of Regs., section 25501(a)(1)
³ Regulations concerning naturally-occuring chemicals in foods can be found in Title 27, Cal. Code of Regs., section 25501(a)(1)