Very few, if any, other states have the legal capacity to pursue something like this. California has Proposition 65, a voter passed ballot initiative, that was originally intended to be a Safe Drinking Water Enforcement Act. Well – Prop 65 has been expanded – dramatically – some for good, but some for not so good. Now, under Prop 65, any item that has any level of carcinogens (things that cause cancer – or for that matter are believed to be harmful) must be labeled – cooked meat, potato chip bags, garden hoses, Coke bottles from Mexico – anything. But that conversation is for a different day.

“Obviously, they do not want to put warnings. They are going to eliminate the lead or eliminate the product,” said Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown. “But, going forward, we want to prevent these kind of things from happening.”Brown said he expected the companies to settle the lawsuit by agreeing to “conditions such as testing or putting independent monitors in foreign countries.” Those measures would ensure that products contain no lead or other harmful chemicals when they are shipped from factories, he said.

Read the Rest…