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OEHHA Takes First Step To List Cannabis Related Substances As Reproductive Toxicants

California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) announced that it has selected cannabis and its related products, including cannabis smoke, cannabis extracts, and THC for review by the Developmental and Reproductive Toxicant Identification Committee (DARTIC) for listing under Prop 65. Consistent with required procedures, the agency is looking at hazard identification materials and seeking for relevant data about the potential reproductive toxicity of cannabis and related substances.  “Hazard identification materials” are publicly available for consideration and comment before the DARTIC renders a decision to list or not list the substances.      

The DARTIC, with the Cancer Identification Committee, comprises OEHHA’s Science Advisory Board whose members serve as the state’s qualified experts under OEHHA. The committee is responsible for determining whether a chemical “clearly shown to cause” reproductive toxicity..  If the DARTIC concludes that the chemical meets this standard, it will be added to the Proposition 65 list and will be subject to the law’s warning requirements and discharge prohibition. 

OEHHA’s notice gives the public a forum to contribute information that may be pertinent to the evaluation of cannabis or cannabis related products for reproductive toxicity. The information call-in period is scheduled to conclude on April 29, 2019 at 5 p.m. The committee will consider the information it receives during this period and plans to meet in the Fall of 2019 to review its findings.

The notice comes in the wake of several initiatives by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) related to the regulation of cannabis and cannabis products. First, the FDA announced that it will conduct a public hearing to collect data relating to the safety, manufacturing, labeling, marketing and sale of products containing cannabis. The hearing is intended to provide information to the FDA’s regulatory oversight committee about the safety of cannabis in products that are overseen by the FDA. In addition, the FDA announced that it plans to create a committee to evaluate the route toward lawful marketing of dietary supplements and food products containing cannabidiol (CBD). The FDA has also sent warning letters to three companies that sell CBD products on account of false and misleading claims made on the company’s websites that allegedly violate several regulatory provisions.

Grimaldi Law Offices has been advising clients for over 20 years on chemical and product law. For knowledgeable advice and in-depth analysis on your chemical regulatory compliance obligations, contact Grimaldi Law Offices at (415) 463-5186 or email us at [email protected].

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.