Here's an example of how California arguably over-regulates. California Proposition 65 requires businesses to post a sign warning customers about the potential presence of significant amounts of toxic chemicals in their locations. That sounds like a good idea!
But the devil is in the details. During our winter break trip to southern California, the place we were staying at had one of those Prop 65 signs posted in its underground garage. Yikes! Toxic chemicals in the garage? What we were exposing ourselves -- especially our boys -- to?
The sign didn't say, which made it all the more ominous.
By scouring the information binder in our room, however, I was able to determine that the toxic chemicals in question were . . . secondhand cigarette smoke and automobile exhaust.
No doubt Prop 65 is well-meaning, but if it requires businesses to warn about secondhand smoke and automobile exhaust, it risks becoming worthless through over-warning. It's much like highlighting every line in your textbook -- there's no differentiation.
It's worse than that. Because Proposition 65 does not penalize for posting a warning when no such chemicals are known to exist, but does penalize if a known chemical exists and the public is not warned about it, it is easier for a property owner to just post the Proposition 65 warning that the premises "may" contain nasty stuff, even if no such chemicals are known to exist.
Thus you'll see Prop 65 warnings at the entrances of shopping malls and office buildings where it is illegal to smoke indoors, and where normally no such chemicals would ever be present at any level of concentration that requires a warning.
In addition, if you go to California's web site, some of the "chemicals" which require a Proposition 65 warning include "Alcoholic beverages", "Aspirin" and "Salted Fish (Chinese-style)". So a Prop 65 sign on grocery stores is pretty standard, since they generally sell aspirin and alcoholic beverages--and on pharmacies, where oral contraceptives (also on the Prop 65 list) are sold.
So needless to say, Prop 65 warnings are pretty much universally ignored by those of us living in California.
(Here's the current list of chemicals that require Proposition 65 warnings. http://oehha.ca.gov/prop65/prop65_list/files/P65single111811.pdf)
Posted by: William Woody | January 02, 2012 at 10:35 AM
And in addition to that the levels at which warning signs are required are (often?) so ridiculously low as to be 1) utterly benign, 2) completely undetectable, and/or 3) far below naturally occuring levels.
Prop 65 is the world's laughing stock.
Posted by: JTW | January 12, 2012 at 03:14 AM