OEHHA to Add Ethanol in Alcoholic Beverages, Chinese-Style Salted Fish to Prop. 65 List

California EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA)
has issued a notice of its intent to list ethanol in alcoholic beverages and
Chinese-style salted fish to the list of chemicals known to the state to cause
cancer (Prop. 65). Inclusion on the list requires that products containing these
ingredients include label warnings.

OEHHA is apparently basing its action on the inclusion of these substances
in an International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) monograph. The
agency is requesting comments by April 4, 2011. According to OEHHA,
“[b]ecause these are ministerial listings, comments should be limited to the
question whether IARC has identified the specific chemical or substance as a
known or potential human or animal carcinogen. Under this listing mechanism,
OEHHA cannot consider scientific arguments concerning the weight
or quality of the evidence considered by IARC when identifying a specific
chemical or substance and will not respond to such comments if they are
submitted.”