Blog

OEHHA Schedules DARTIC Meeting on Cannabis

The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has set December 11, 2019 for the meeting of the Developmental and Reproductive Toxicant Identification Committee (DARTIC). At that meeting, the DARTIC will determine whether to identify the following cannabis-related substances as reproductive toxicants under Proposition 65: cannabis (marijuana), cannabis smoke (marijuana smoke), cannabis extracts, and Δ-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

OEHHA issued a data call-in request on these substances on March 15, 2019. Several comments were submitted, many of which requested that the DARTIC review be clear about what, exactly, is being considered for listing. For example, the Personal Care Products Council stated that “cannabis extracts” is too broad a term, and requested that OEHHA clarify that it does not include hemp or hemp-derived extracts. The law firm Keller & Heckman similarly expressed concern about the overbroad term “cannabis extracts,” pointing out:

Based on our research, it is clear “cannabis extracts” do not refer to a single commodity or mixture and—with the exception of the most abundant cannabinoid compounds (THC and CBD)—there are limited safety data on most “cannabis extracts.” [Citation omitted.] What data are available in the public literature that assess the developmental or reproductive toxicity of cannabis focuses almost entirely on THC and CBD. [Citation omitted.] Thus, we respectfully submit that the categorical listing of “cannabis extracts” would be inappropriate in that it would capture thousands of cannabis extracts that have no evidence of any reproductive toxicity concern.

Certainly, little is served by overbroad Proposition 65 chemical listings; they can lead to unnecessary warnings and can numb consumers to warnings in general.

Although the data call-in period has closed, the DARTIC meeting will be open to the public and interested parties may provide limited oral comments.

 

Ms. Grimaldi maintains a diverse environmental law practice focusing on chemical and product regulation and litigation defense. Her practice areas include Proposition 65, California's Safer Consumer Products Regulations, California's Rigid Plastic Packaging Container Act and the federal Toxic Substances Control Act. Ms. Grimaldi graduated from the University of California Hastings College of the Law magna cum laude and holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Bacteriology from University of California, Davis. Prior to attending law school, she worked as a research assistant in laboratories at the University of California, San Francisco Cancer Research Institute and at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine.