California Proposes Prop 65 MADL for Ethylene Glycol

The California Environmental Protection Agency's (Cal/EPA) Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) proposed a Proposition 65 Maximum Allowable Dose Level (MADL) for oral exposure to ethylene glycol of 8,700 micrograms per day. Ethylene Glycol—a substance used in the production of several packaging materials—was added to the list of chemicals known to the State of California to cause reproductive toxicity under Prop. 65 on June 19, 2015. Proposition 65, or the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, prohibits a company from knowingly exposing any individual to a listed chemical without first providing a "clear and reasonable warning" to such individual. The law provides an exemption from the need to provide a warning where exposures are below a "safe harbor"—an established no significant risk level (NSRL) for a carcinogen or an MADL for a reproductive toxicant. Written comments on the proposed MADL are due by May 23, 2016. For more information, see OEHHA’s website.