But a new California law has begun to reverse that tide. For a specific list of particularly dangerous chemicals, it creates a market incentive for businesses to make sure they keep exposures below the level that would pose any significant risk to health. The incentive is simple. A business that intentionally exposes people to one of the listed chemicals, and doesn't keep the exposure below that chemical's authorized level, must warn the people exposed. Excess exposures are still legal, but the warning must be included along with the chemical dose.
Competition therefore presses in favor of keeping exposure levels down.
If one company's product sits on the shelf with a cancer warning and a competitor's doesn't, it's not hard to foresee which one the consumer will be inclined to choose. The new law, Proposition 65, was overwhelmingly approved by California voters in November, 1986. Businesses in California have had a year's grace period to look over how they expose people to those chemicals and to decide, when necessary, whether to reduce the exposures or to warn. Instead of trying to swim against the incentives that animate business enterprise, making use of those incentives is at the heart of Prop. 65's approach. And the incentives for business not only in the marketplace, but also in the regulatory process, are consciously addressed.