April 22, 2016 (Arlington, Va.) – According to guidance and tools provided by the American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA), many ACMA member companies may find they do not need to provide toxicity warnings for their products in compliance with California’s Prop 65 regulation – which as of today lists styrene as a substance “known to the State to cause cancer.” Warnings will not have to be provided for a product if use-related exposures to styrene are below a “No Significant Risk Level” (NSRL). California EPA has proposed to establish a styrene NSRL of 27 micrograms (ug) per day.
Per today’s ruling, manufacturers, distributors, OEMs and importers of products containing styrene that are sold in California will now have until April 2017 to determine if styrene exposures associated with use of their products are below the No Significant Risk Level for styrene. If products are not below the NSRL, companies must provide warnings labels to product users beginning at that time.
“ACMA anticipated this ruling months ago and did the necessary research to put together this guidance,” said ACMA President, Tom Dobbins. “It is important to remember that this applies to any company in or outside of California whose product is sold in California, whether or not the company knew or intended it to be sold in the state.”
ACMA’s members-only Prop 65 Compliance Program has the guidance and tools composites manufacturers need to determine if the No Significant Risk Level exemption applies to their products. The tools include an ACMA report that describes the results of a study that measured the amounts of styrene and ethylbenzene contained in a range of composite products. It also estimates the amount of exposure product users and consumers had to those products.
“This is just the start of ACMA’s work on this issue,” Dobbins continued. “The association intends to pursue a Safe Use Determination (SUD) that would be a determination by the state that styrene exposures resulting from use of composites products do not trigger the State’s requirements for labeling
