Court Stops OEHHA From Listing Styrene as Carcinogen
A California state judge has reportedly issued a tentative ruling on the styrene industry’s request to enjoin Proposition 65 (Prop. 65) regulators from listing styrene as a chemical known to the state to cause cancer. Styrene Info. & Research Ctr. v. OEHHA, No. 09-53089 (Cal. Super. Ct., Sacramento Cty., decided August 12, 2009). Further details about the litigation appear in issue 313 of this Update.
According to a news source, Superior Court Judge Shelleyanne Chang found no “known” evidence that styrene is a carcinogen and that the designation would likely have a devastating and stigmatizing effect on the product’s use. Widely used in food packaging, styrene plastics are apparently crucial to the transportation and sale of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, state industries worth $1.6 billion.
California EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has proposed listing styrene as a Prop. 65 substance, which would require public warnings, based on “possibly carcinogenic” findings by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer and a state Labor Code hazard communication standard that includes “possible” cancer-causing agents. The court reportedly has 90 days to issue a final ruling on the request for preliminary injunction, after which additional briefing and hearings will be scheduled on whether the listing should be permanently enjoined. See The Sacramento Bee, August 13, 2009.
