Why is there a warning label on some progesterone cream products sold at health food stores?
The state of California, under Proposition 65, requires warning labels on consumer products that contain ingredients “known to the state” as posing potential cancer risk. Women in Balance believes that placing a warning label on progesterone cream products is not warranted. We would like to educate consumers about how Proposition 65 came about. What is California Proposition 65? California¹s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, also known as Proposition 65 (“Prop 65”), contains a list of over 800 chemicals identified as carcinogens. Prop 65 mandates that warnings be given to consumers of products that contain certain chemicals identified by the state of California as hazardous. Progesterone was added to this list in 1988 based on summaries from the National Toxicology Program (NTP) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Both of these programs only evaluated progesterone given to animals already predisposed to cancer. Progesterone was then given to
