We at Walker Zanger care about our customers and partners and want to keep you informed. You may find a warning label on some of our products like the one below. This warning required by California Proposition 65 (Prop 65) is meant to notify California residents of potential exposure to certain chemicals.

• What is this Warning
• Exposures to Crystalline Silica during installation of the Ceramic Tiles.
• Safety Equipment
• Walker Zanger Products Subjected to Proposition 65 Labeling.

What is this warning?
California’s Proposition 65 (Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986) alerts California consumers with a special warning for products that contain chemicals identified by the state of California as potentially causing cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm if a consumer is exposed to such chemicals above a certain threshold levels.

Proposition 65 does not ban the sale of products containing these chemicals, but instead informs the consumer with a warning on the product, product packaging or product literature. Please note that a Prop 65 warning does not mean a product is in violation of any product safety standards or requirements. In fact, the California government has clarified that a Prop 65 warning “is not the same as a regulatory decision that a product is ‘safe’ or ‘unsafe.’” Many of these chemicals have been used in everyday products for years without documented harm.

This page informs and educates our consumers regarding Prop 65. In addition, when applicable, our products will be marked with information similar to what is shown below:

Exposures to Crystalline Silica during installation of the Ceramic Tiles.

An independent study by Environmental Health & Engineering, Inc. (EH&E), commissioned by the Tile Council of North America (TCNA), in partnership with different national and international trade organization, found that the potential excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) associated with tile-related crystalline silica exposure for the average installers who installs tile is 1.3 in 10 million (1.3 x 10-7), or 0.013 per 100,000, a value that is 75-times below the threshold of 1 in 100,000 established under the Prop 65 regulation, when cutting tile using the traditional, wet saw method.

Emissions from cutting tile by the score and snap method were 50 times lower than found from wet-cutting, and over 1000 times lower than from motorized dry cutting.

In conjunction with a prior OSHA determination that wet-cutting tile with a stationary masonry saw requires no personal protective equipment (PPE). The same is true when scoring and snapping tile.

References:
• For more information on the TCNA Study, please click here.
• To access OSHA determination, follow this link.
• To learn more about Proposition 65, click here.

Safety Equipment

Although, as demonstrated in the EH&E/TCNA study, cutting ceramic tile does not pose significant risk to exposure to any of the chemical elements listed under Prop 65, Walker Zanger recommends that you follow all safety measures recommended by the manufacture of the tool you choose to use. These measures may include:

• Protective goggles;
• Masks; and
• Gloves

Walker Zanger Products subjected to Proposition 65 Labeling

Below is a comprehensive list of Walker Zanger’s products required by California’s Prop 65 to be labeled. We strive to keep this list updated as new products are added or Prop 65 changes. In any case, information included in the product packaging will be more current than this list.