Overview
On October 15, California Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 258, known as the “Cleaning Product Right to Know Act of 2017,” into law. The Act, which goes into effect January 1, 2018, requires that cleaning products sold within the state of California list ingredients on product labels as well as provide additional ingredient information on product websites.
SB 258 defines "designated product" as a “finished product that is an air care product, automotive product, general cleaning product, or a polish or floor maintenance product used primarily for janitorial, domestic, or institutional cleaning purposes.”
Manufacturers of designated products will be required to include a list of certain intentionally added ingredients on the product label, with some exceptions for confidential business information. Manufacturers of designated products will also be required to provide certain information on their websites, including a list of each intentionally added ingredient in the product, the associated Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) number, and the functional purpose of the ingredient.
Disclosure is also required for fragrance allergens that are designated under EU law. The California Act requires disclosure for fragrance allergens included in Annex III of the EU Cosmetics Regulation No. 1223/2009 as required to be labeled by the EU Detergents Regulation No. 648/2004, when present at a concentration above 0.01 percent.
Companies have two years from the effective date to comply with the online disclosure requirements and three years to comply with the label disclosure requirements. When any of the criteria lists are updated, companies then have 6 months to update their online ingredient information and 18 months to update their labels.
Products regulated under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) are exempt from the labeling requirements of the Act. However, the website disclosure requirements still apply to FIFRA-registered products that meet the definition of “designated product”. Foods, food packaging, drugs, and cosmetics are exempt from all requirements of the Act.
California’s law may be the first of many. New York state is currently considering an initiative that would require manufacturers to list ingredient information on individual company websites. Information on New York’s proposed “Household Cleaning Product Information Disclosure Program” can be found here. Other states considering similar legislation include Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington.