You may have seen the following warning associated with our products, as well as on other products purchased from other manufacturers:

WARNING: This product can expose you to chemicals including Bisphenol A (BPA), which is known to the State of California to cause cancer. For more information, go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov

This warning is required by the California Proposition 65 (Prop 65), which is meant to notify California residents of exposures to Prop 65-listed chemicals.

There are over 900 chemicals on the Prop 65 list. Many of our vendors’ products may have traces of various chemicals that are on the list as part of the normal manufacturing process or contained within the product materials themselves.

Prop 65 applies to any company operating in California, selling products in California, or manufacturing products that may be sold in or brought into California. It mandates that the State maintain and publish a list of chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects, and/or other reproductive harm. The list, which is updated annually, includes hundreds of chemicals found in many everyday items. The purpose of Prop 65 is to inform the public about exposure to these chemicals.

Prop 65 does not ban the sale of products containing these chemicals but instead requires warnings on any product, product packaging, or literature with the product. Moreover, a Prop 65 warning does not mean that a product is in violation of any product safety standards or requirements. In fact, the California government has clarified that a Prop 65 warning “is not the same as a regulatory decision that a product is ‘safe’ or ‘unsafe.’” Many of these chemicals have been used in everyday products for years without documented harm. For more information, go to https://oag.ca.gov/prop65/faqs-view-all.

A Prop 65 warning means that a company has either (1) evaluated the exposure and has concluded that it exceeds the “no significant risk level”; or (2) has chosen to provide a warning based on its understanding about the presence of a listed chemical without attempting to evaluate the exposure.

What does this warning mean?

This warning does not necessarily mean that these products will cause cancer or reproductive harm nor does it mean products we sell are in violation of any Federal or State product-safety standards or requirements. You could think of Proposition 65 more as a ‘right to know’ law than a pure product safety law.

Why does the McGee Company include this warning?

Although Proposition 65 only applies to companies that operate, manufacture or sell products in California, McGee sells products throughout the world. To determine which McGee products are only available in California would be extremely difficult and costly. Additionally, McGee vendors provide warnings regarding the presence of one or more listed chemicals without evaluating the level of exposure imparted by the product, as not all the listed chemicals provide exposure limit requirements. For most cases, exposure from these products is negligible or well within the “no significant risk” range, however, out of an abundance of caution, McGee Company has elected to provide the Prop 65 warning and highlight vendor warnings to provide consumers with information so that they can make informed decisions about the products they buy and use.