Response to Request for Reconsideration of Denial of Petition to the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment

In a petition submitted on September 22, 2016, Mateel Environmental Justice Foundation, Californians for Alternatives to Toxics, and Ecological Rights Foundation requested that the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) to:

“[A]mend California Code of Regulations, title 27, section 27001(c) to list lead as a female reproductive toxicant, using as the basis for this listing findings by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (‘EPA’) and the National Toxicology Program (‘NTP’) that lead is known to cause delayed onset of puberty in females.”

Title 27, California Code of Regulations, section 27001(c) is the list of chemicals known to cause reproductive toxicity. This list is published pursuant to Proposition 65,^[1],[2] which requires the Governor^[3] to maintain a list of those chemicals known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity.  For the reasons stated in its response on October 28, 2016, OEHHA did not grant the petitioners’ request. On November 10, 2016, the petitioners requested reconsideration of OEHHA’s decision to deny their petition.  OEHHA has reconsidered the petition and the discussion in the November 10, 2016 submission. This is OEHHA’s response to the November 10 request for reconsideration.

As shown in section 27001(c), and as stated in our earlier response, lead has been listed as known to cause reproductive toxicity under Proposition 65 since February 27,1987.  Also as stated in OEHHA’s earlier response and as shown in section 27001(c), lead is listed as known to cause the following types of reproductive toxicity: male, female, and developmental.  Section 27001(c) does not include further subcategorization of the types of reproductive toxicity caused by lead, or for that matter for any other reproductive toxicant on the list.  The more specific designation of a chemical as causing developmental, male or female reproductive toxicity is included on the list for informational purposes only, and is not required under Proposition 65.  OEHHA declines to add further specificity to the section 27001(c) list beyond these informational designations. Proposition 65 only requires OEHHA to publish and periodically revise a list of chemicals that are known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity^[4].  There is no requirement to provide any finer level of specificity in this regard for this or any other chemical since the law applies where the chemical has been listed as known to cause reproductive toxicity.

The petitioners’ request would require OEHHA to engage in a time-consuming, resource-intensive process to reaffirm that lead is a reproductive toxicant. This is unnecessary, as lead has been listed as a reproductive toxicant since 1987, and the current basis for its listing remains valid and is not in question.  When listings are no longer supported, OEHHA does engage in the lengthy process of removing the chemical from the list and has done so in a number of instances. However, re-designating chemicals that have already been listed and whose listing is not in question is not a prudent use of OEHHA’s limited resources.  The Proposition 65 list currently contains approximately 900 chemicals.  Establishing a precedent for the reaffirmation of the listing of chemicals would divert OEHHA’s time and attention from other important Proposition 65 duties, and would not further the purposes of the law.

For these reasons, OEHHA declines to make the changes requested in the petition.

Chemical Reference

• Lead and Lead Compounds

Related Notices

• Response to Petition by the Mateel Environmental Justice Foundation et al.

  Oct 28, 2016