Proposition 65 on our products

Key Details - Safe drinking water and toxic enforcement Act of 1986.

A customer may reach out asking about a label on one of our products that says the product was made with chemicals that may cause "Cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive issues." These tags are on a wide variety of items sold in California.

As very few of our products are made using a chemical that requires this tag it's a very rare ask, luggage seems to be the main, if not only, product that has these tags on products that we sell.

There won't be the chemical listed on a product that causes the tag to be placed on a product, as it's not required by the prop, but we still have our banned substance list and safer chemicals commitment to reference for customers. 

Talking points

1. Thank you for reaching out, I understand the tags can cause some hesitation in buying, or continuing to own our products, but I can assure you here at LS&CO we are committed to providing products that meet & exceed current environmental and human safety concerns in regards to the chemicals used in our products. 

2. If you could give me the name of the chemical you're concerned about, I can refer to our banned chemical list, as well as our safer chemicals commitment to check if it's something we may use.
Safer Chemicals, an LS&CO commitment.
Product Safety by Design Framework for Restricted Substances List - Updated Jan 2024.

3. The tag is meant to be a warning and not a blanket statement that any product with the warning will cause health issues, there are guidelines set forth by the prop on the maximum allowable dose levels for these chemicals to ensure that the health of customers is the top priority for companies. (Mercury in fish is a good example to reinforce that something bad may only be bad after a certain point.)

In-depth information on Proposition 65.

While the wording of the tag can cause some panic in most people it's our place to explain the usage of the tag on our products and to help these customers understand that our company isn't trying to give them health issues, it's a current by-product for the manufacturing methods that are used worldwide for some items. The proposition isn't meant to scare customers away from products, but more meant to educate people so they can make informed decisions. If we focus on the positives of the proposition, even though having it on even a small number of products may scare customers, it should help to alleviate the fright felt by the warning. If you dig into the Prop it's put on McDonald's and other Fast Food stores, it can be a good talking point to help someone understand that while the warning may be on some products we sell it's truly meant to be just that, a warning as not all of the chemicals are just a blanket "Avoid". The chemical list below should include information on which chemicals need to be avoided completely, and which need a reduced amount of contact to avoid health issues. Source, https://oehha.ca.gov/proposition-65/general-info/current-proposition-65-no-significant-risk-levels-nsrls-maximum "Safe harbor levels, which include No Significant Risk Levels (NSRLs) for cancer-causing chemicals and Maximum Allowable Dose Levels (MADLs) for chemicals causing reproductive toxicity, have been established for many of the chemicals listed under Proposition 65."

While we may not have the exact chemicals we use in our products that cause this warning to be placed on a product we can reference the LS&CO banned substances list to check if the substance the customer is inquiring about is used.




Product Safety by Design Framework for Restricted Substances List - Updated Jan 2024.

You can also send the customers this link, and the one above, as it's from the LS&CO website which can be freely accessed, it's our "Safer Chemicals" initiative, and our company's current commitment to providing products that are safe for people, and our environment. 

Safer Chemicals, an LS&CO commitment.

If you'd like to read up on the Prop itself, how it's managed, by whom, and other misc info please see the below link, there will also be a brief description of the Prop itself just below.

OEHHA.ca.gov - Information on the Prop, with a variety of links to get into the details if the customer requests.

"Proposition 65 enables Californians to make informed choices about their exposures to listed chemicals. This site is designed to help Californians learn about what these chemicals are, why they are on the Proposition 65 list, how and where exposures can occur, and how these exposures can be avoided or reduced.   Any actions you decide to take to reduce your exposure to a listed chemical are a matter of personal choice.

Information on this site includes fact sheets to help inform Californians about certain chemicals, and specific steps they might choose to take to reduce their exposure to them.  We also provide information on chemicals in certain places (such as parking garages or service stations) and products.  For a broad overview of how Proposition 65 warnings work, and how you can use them to reduce your exposure to toxic chemicals on the Proposition 65 list, consult our “Big Picture” fact sheet."

Any customers that reach out about the tag should be taken seriously. "By law, a warning must be given for listed chemicals unless the exposure is low enough to pose no significant risk of cancer or is significantly below levels observed to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm."
In short, if the tag is on a product then the exposure has been deemed enough to pose a threat, but this part we don't want to tell the customer, it could give a sour taste of the product. We have to keep in mind that during some stages of production, the use of these chemicals may be required with current manufacturing standards, but our company's commitment to using safer chemicals should help to show customers that we only use these when there is no other option. 

What the warning will look like on our products, this label can vary slightly but for the most part, it will look similar, have the Warning sign, and information on the Prop.