California Is Now the Second State to
Execute Labeling of Menstrual Product Ingredients!

“Every Woman Has a Right to Make an Informed Choice
of What She Puts In or On Her Body.”

It’s been two years and four months since AB 1989: The Menstrual Product Right to Know Act, was passed on September 30, 2020. California became the second state in the nation, after New York in 2019, to require ingredient labeling, and the first in the world to require fragrance allergen labeling on all menstrual products.  Given the size of California and New York’s economies, manufacturers are unlikely to create packaging specific to these two states, which means they’ll be a strong consideration to implement menstrual products ingredient labeling nationwide.

A Voice for Choice Advocacy (AVFCA) brought AB 1989: The Menstrual Product Right to Know Act to Assembly Member Cristina Garcia, the self-proclaimed “Period Princess,” who authored numerous bills on period equity, to ensure consumers are aware of harmful or allergenic ingredients in menstrual products.  AVFCA worked with Assembly Member Cristina Garcia to pass the bill through the legislature and have it signed by the Governor.

Most women use some form of menstrual products monthly for approximately 40 years of their lives. Each and every one of them will now have the ability to make informed choices on which menstrual products are safe or harmful for themselves and their families. Because they are considered “medical devices,” labeling is not required at the federal level, currently leaving menstrual product manufacturers to label at varying degrees.

This new AVFCA sponsored law, effective January 1, 2023, guarantees that menstrual product manufacturers label a plain and conspicuous list of all ingredients in their menstrual products, on both packaging and websites.  This includes “trade secret” ingredients considered “confidential business information,” if they are included on any of 22 authoritative lists of chemicals that exhibit hazardous traits and/or an environmental or toxicological endpoint, as identified by numerous U.S. and worldwide agencies. The labeling is also first in the world to require fragrance allergen labeling for menstrual products, equal to EU “leave-on” products, disclosed at a concentration at or above 0.001 percent (10 parts per million). While the European Union has fragrance allergen standards for “leave-on” products, such as cosmetics, and “rinse off” products such as shower gel, neither the EU nor any other state or country has standards for menstrual products, until the signing of this law. 

A Voice for Choice Advocacy is one of only two 501(c)4 non-profits in California focused on Health Rights and Medical Freedom.  Unlike 501(c)3 non-profits who have to limit lobbying to a maximum of 20% of their efforts, a 501(c)4 is allowed to spend 100% of their time on lobbying and advocacy.  No other organization in California has the legislative expertise or experience to continue to lead this Health Rights and Medical Freedom movement at the Sacramento Capitol, with Reactive Activism (fighting bad bills) and Proactive Legislation (getting good bills authored).  And no other organization has Empowered You with knowledge and actions to take issues into your own hands.

If you found this information helpful and appreciate the work A Voice for Choice Advocacy is doing, please support us by making a donation today.

Together we can make change happen!

C

Christina Hildebrand
President/Founder
A Voice for Choice Advocacy, Inc.
[email protected]
www.AVoiceForChoiceAdvocacy.org