The California Environmental Protection Agency's (Cal/EPA) Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) announced the addition of ethylene glycol (ingested) to the list of chemicals known to the State to cause reproductive toxicity under Proposition 65, effective June 19, 2015. Ethylene glycol is a precursor used in the manufacture of polyester resins, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
Proposition 65, also known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, requires the governor of California to publish, at least annually, a list of chemicals known to the State to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity. Products containing listed substances may be subject to disclosure requirements under the law.
OEHHA stated that the National Toxicology Program's Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction (NTP-CERHR) 2004 report on ethylene glycol provides an adequate basis for listing ethylene glycol on Proposition 65 pursuant to the authoritative bodies mechanism. The NTP report found that ethylene glycol causes reproductive toxicity (developmental endpoint) in laboratory animals at high oral doses.
For more information on the listing of ethylene glycol under Proposition 65, see OEHHA's website.