Dear Valued Solitary Health Customer,
In 1986, California passed a law commonly known as Proposition 65. Formally titled "The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986,” this proposition sought to prevent businesses from exposing consumers to certain toxins without providing a warning. Lead, arsenic and PCBs were three such toxins. PCBs are unfortunately found throughout our environment, especially in ground water, rivers, streams, lakes and oceans, which is why they are commonly associated with marine-derived products. Because the Proposition 65 law did not set a safe harbor limit for reproductive health and PCBs, all products containing even trace amounts of PCBs require the following warning:
WARNING: Consuming this product can expose you to chemicals including PCBs, which are known to the State of California to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm. For more information go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov/food
For any food or nutritional supplements containing over 0.09 micrograms per day of PCB's, the cancer warning is added:
WARNING: Consuming this product can expose you to chemicals including PCBs, which are known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.
For more information go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov/food
Due to the fact that there was no safe harbor limit established for PCBs and reproductive health, a group called GOED formed to establish a limit, which they have set at 90 nanograms of PCB's per day. This has allowed fish oil suppliers that are GOED members to remove the reproductive warning from products their oil is used in. This is why you may see the reproductive warning on some fish oil products but not others.
Lead is also prevalent in the environment, with almost all natural plant and food materials containing some amount of naturally occurring lead. Two levels were also outlined for lead: any foods or nutritional supplements that exceed 0.5 micrograms of lead (about the same as 1/2 a cup of fresh spinach) per serving require the birth defect warning, and any products exceeding 15 micrograms per serving require the cancer addition, in the same format as the PCB warning above:
WARNING: Consuming this product can expose you to chemicals including lead, which is known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. For more information go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov/food
The lead limit established by Proposition 65 is hundreds of times lower than what is actually safe to consume, which has been extensively studied. For example, the World Health Organization established a limit of about 250 micrograms a day for the average adult, which is 500 times the Proposition 65 reproductive limit.
Arsenic is also a naturally occurring heavy metal that is present throughout our natural environment and food and water supply. It is especially prevalent in areas with industrial activity, mining or fossil fuel combustion. Because the Proposition 65 law did not set a safe harbor limit for reproductive health and inorganic arsenic (a small percentage of total arsenic), all products containing even trace amounts of inorganic arsenic require the following warning:
WARNING: Consuming this product can expose you to chemicals including arsenic, which are known to the State of California to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm. For more information go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov/food
For any food or nutritional supplements containing over 10 micrograms per day of inorganic arsenic, the cancer warning is added:
WARNING: Consuming this product can expose you to chemicals including arsenic, which are known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. For more information go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov/food
On a practical level, fresh food is treated differently than packaged food products. For example, fresh vegetables may contain enough lead or arsenic to require warnings, but do not have labels, and therefore do not have the warning, while a processed and packaged version of the same item would require a warning label in California.
Solitary Health strives to keep customers informed and we are proud to guarantee the quality, purity and potency of our products in a full transparent matter, while others may not. Our goal is to use the most natural ingredients possible, which means there are naturally occurring traces of lead, arsenic and PCBs in some of our products, however they are present in miniscule amounts. That's why we include these Proposition 65 warnings on any products that meet the above criteria and will be sold to California.
Thank you for your continued support and understanding of this matter. If you have any questions or concerns, please let us know.
All the best, John