Proposition 65 is a California law that requires businesses to give a clear warning before exposing people in California to chemicals the state has listed as causing cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm. It is not a product ban and does not set textile-specific limits; it applies to textiles because dyes, prints, coatings and trims can contain listed chemicals such as certain heavy metals, phthalates and formaldehyde.
The law is administered by California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, which maintains the list of chemicals. Enforcement, however, comes largely from private lawsuits brought by individuals and law firms, which is why brands treat it as a testing issue rather than a labelling one. Textiles sold online into California are covered just as much as those sold in a shop.
Why brands test rather than warn
A business can comply by putting a Proposition 65 warning on the product, but most apparel and home textile brands do not want a cancer warning on a garment. Instead they set their own test limits for the listed chemicals most likely to appear in textiles and require suppliers to meet them. Many of these limits come from settlements in earlier lawsuits, which have become informal industry benchmarks.
Because any seller can be sued, retailers push the requirement down to the brand, and the brand pushes it down to the importer and the Indian supplier. If you sell into the United States at all, assume California is included.
Textile components most often involved
- Plastisol and PVC screen prints, which can contain phthalates.
- Metal trims, zips, buttons and rivets, which can contain lead or cadmium.
- Resin-finished fabrics, where formaldehyde is the concern.
- Coated and laminated fabrics, bags and footwear uppers.
- Synthetic leather and polyurethane components.
Managing it from India
Proposition 65 testing is usually added to the standard chemical package, targeting the trims and prints rather than every piece of body fabric. Ask the brand which chemicals and limits their programme specifies, because there is no single statutory list of textile limits to test against. Keep the lab reports with the shipment file, since a supplier's verbal assurance carries no weight in a dispute. Where a brand has no programme of its own, a reasonable approach is to test the components listed above against the limits in its existing restricted substances list and record the basis for that choice.
The chemical list is updated regularly and brand requirements change with each settlement. Confirm current requirements with an accredited lab or your compliance team before relying on a previous season's results. This is general information, not legal advice.
How we help with Proposition 65
We agree the Proposition 65 test plan with you and your brand's chemical list, draw sealed samples of the fabric, prints and trims from the bulk, and send them to an NABL-accredited or international lab. We check the report against the spec before loading, supervise the loading and send a weekly update. A free 20-minute sourcing review is available if you want to work out what needs testing on a US order.