California Apparel News

    Chelsea Murtha
  

Labels with a scary warning—that the product you are about to buy is known to the state of California to cause cancer or reproductive harm—are found on everything from cleaning supplies and furniture to bottles of hot sauce and even entire hotel buildings.

Soon you will see them on more clothes and shoes—and this is a good thing.

This proliferation of labels is a direct result of California’s Proposition 65, a policy that attempts to help discerning consumers choose safer products through chemical warnings.

California’s list of potentially harmful chemicals numbers more than 900 items. Unfortunately, the agency that administrates the program, California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), does not establish science-based concentration limits to guide manufacturers about safe chemical levels. This means even trace amounts of listed chemicals—amounts that are naturally occurring, such as acrylamide in coffee—can form the basis of expensive and time-consuming legal action against brands and retailers.

Lawsuits abound despite the consumer never being in any actual danger. In response, virtually every industry slaps an indemnifying “warning” label on all products, protecting themselves from litigation while at the same time engaging in robust chemical-management systems to ensure that the products are safe.

Although they have deployed their own extensive chemical-management and product-safety protocols, many apparel and footwear brands and retailers have largely resisted using labels, fearing a consumer backlash that has not materialized in other industries. In practice, this means some retailers have even refused to stock safe apparel and footwear products if they are accompanied by a warning label.

Sadly, no amount of chemical management can create a “safe harbor” against a flood of lawsuits under Prop 65. Recent litigation, as well as the continuing listing of new chemicals by OEHHA, make it clear that warning labels are the only way to avoid lawsuits. From BPA and BPS to PFOA, PFOS and beyond, trace levels of listed chemicals—which are safe for the consumer—are being found by dogged bounty hunters. They make their living finding any trace of a chemical and extracting legal settlement fees from brands and retailers for whom it is less costly to pay up and move on than litigate low-level findings.

This takes on an added urgency as the industry is heavily investing in textile-to-textile recycling, where total elimination of all trace contamination by listed chemicals is virtually impossible. In fact, California will demand such recycling initiatives through programs like the Responsible Textile Recovery Act.

Only labels can stop this litigious activity.

For this reason, you can expect to see more warning labels on clothes and shoes in 2025 while in fact your wardrobe is safer and more sustainable than ever.

Increased labeling means we, as an industry, will have some work to do to educate consumers and secure their continued trust on how the industry is leading on product-safety efforts. In this vein, AAFA’s RSL will certainly play a prominent role as it continues to be the most popular resource on the AAFA website—open to AAFA members and stakeholders at large—to ensure baseline chemical management.

And while an increase in labels will not mean an increase in safety risks, it should bring about a reduction in pointless litigation, thereby avoiding an extra cost that only gets passed on to consumers.

If a company chooses to use a Prop 65 warning label on its products, the company must select from two label content options. Companies must also determine the placement of the warning label on their products and on their websites if the products are sold online. With the proliferation of chemicals covered by Prop 65, AAFA understands the complexities of compliance strategy. Learn more at aafaglobal.org/Tools because keeping fashion safe and affordable is always in style.

As AAFA’s Senior Director of Sustainability, Chelsea Murtha serves as the association’s advocate and spokesperson on matters of sustainability and product safety. She engages with Congress, the executive branch, independent agencies, as well as state and local legislatures and agencies and foreign governments on sustainability, product safety and chemical-management issues important to the industry. Murtha is also the staff liaison to AAFA’s Environmental Committee and Product Safety Council. In November 2024, AAFA published a new Prop 65: Best Practices & Warning Label Guide for members.