Safe Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 – Warnings Required for Residents of California

We appreciate your decision to purchase products from Submersible Systems products to provide the best short-term breathing experience. You may have noticed that products now show a warning label referring to carcinogens and birth defects at the point of sale. You may also have begun to see warnings about carcinogenic substances or substances causing birth defects prominently displayed in hotel lobbies, hospitals, or other places of business in California. The State of California requires these warnings, and an explanation of the California statute legislating the requirement will provide you with valuable information regarding the relative risks of the chemicals that may be present in consumer products.

In 1986, the State of California passed the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, otherwise known as "Proposition 65" or "Prop 65". Prop 65 requires businesses like ours to disclose to individuals the presence of chemicals listed in the Act before the point of sale. The regulations implementing this Act have been amended over time, with the most recent updates that took effect on August 30, 2018. There are more than 900 chemicals on the Prop 65 Chemical List, including many chemicals found in components of a wide array of consumer goods or used to manufacture components that make up consumer goods.

Prop 65 does not establish acceptable concentrations for any listed chemical; however, the agency which enforces it has established "safe harbor" exposure levels for about one-third of these chemicals below which warnings are not required. These "safe harbor" levels are established for listed carcinogens based on the quantity of the chemical that would result in one excess case of cancer in an exposed population of 100,000, assuming lifetime (70-year) exposure at the level in question. A similar process establishes safe harbor levels for listed reproductive toxins. Additional information in plain language on safe harbor levels is available from the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment at http://oehha.ca.gov/Prop65/background/p65plain.html.

We go to great lengths to select materials that offer superior value, quality, and durability while being generally recognized as safe and reliable for the product's life. Sometimes the safety promise we offer appears at odds with the health and safety requirements of other legislation in certain parts of the world when some regulations are updated ahead of others. To ensure compliance with applicable legal requirements, Submersible Systems has placed a warning on products that contain a Prop 65 listed chemical, either directly or as a part of the raw material supply chain. This allows us to comply with California law and provide our California consumers with the disclosure required by Prop 65.

Submersible Systems is working diligently with regulatory bodies and our manufacturing partners to improve our product performance and reduce the presence of less desirable chemicals. Water is a precious resource we all share that is important to the health and well-being of our planet and all people. Our goal is to continue enhancing your in-water life experience while reducing our overall impact on the planet, particularly its waterways. While it is an effort to achieve, we are confident you will see continued improvement in the immediate and long term. This explanation will enable you to understand why you will see warnings on some of our products.

Thank you for your continued use of Submersible Systems products.

Proposition 65 Notice for Residents of the State of California

The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, also called Proposition 65 (P65),is a California state law that helps protect California’s drinking water from harmful chemicals and reduce exposures to those chemicals. The law requires the state to maintain a list of chemicals that the state has reason to believe cause cancer or reproductive harm. The list currently has over 900 chemical substances, both naturally occurring (such as metals) and synthetic (such as plastics), with 'no significant risk level' (NSRL) of safe exposure established for only about a third of the list. P65 listed chemicals are associated with many common everyday items such as automobiles, cosmetics, building materials, electronics, foods and beverages, furniture, medicines and medical devices, product packaging, and woodworking tools.

The California law also requires businesses to notify purchasers with a warning about products that contain or may expose (even if indirectly) California residents to P65 listed chemicals. A P65 warning notice does not mean that using a product will cause cancer or reproductive harm. By requiring this information be provided, the law enables Californians to be more informed about their exposures to P65 listed chemicals. Fines for violations of P65 can be levied for selling or delivering products within California without such notices. Unfortunately, because P65 enforcement has a history of frivolous lawsuits, it can be more expedient for businesses to simply publish a warning notice rather than defend products that do not pose a significant risk of direct exposure to P65 listed chemicals.

WARNING: Cancer and Reproductive Harm -- www.P65Warnings.ca.gov

The products we sell are neither illegal nor unsafe, but only you can decide if products are right for you. see examples below.

WARNING: Products containing lithium-ion batteries can expose you to chemicals including Lithium Nickel Cobalt Oxide, which are known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. More information at www.P65Warnings.ca.gov.

WARNING: Products containing vinyl plastics (aka PVC) can expose you to chemicals including Phthalates, which are known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. More information at www.P65Warnings.ca.gov.

WARNING: Products containing fluoroelastomers (aka FKM, aka Viton) can expose you to chemicals including Tetrafluoroethylene, which are known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. More information at www.P65Warnings.ca.gov.

WARNING: Products containing polycarbonate plastics can expose you to chemicals including Bisphenol A (BPA), which are known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. More information at www.P65Warnings.ca.gov.

WARNING: Products containing polyoxymethylene plastics (aka POM or Delrin®) can expose you to chemicals including Formaldehyde, which are known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. More information at www.P65Warnings.ca.gov.

WARNING: Products containing polystyrene plastics (aka ABS) can expose you to chemicals including Styrene Monomer, which are known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. More information at www.P65Warnings.ca.gov.