(Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986)

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Proposition 65, officially known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, was enacted as a ballot initiative in November 1986. Under Proposition 65, manufacturers are required to provide a warning if the product could expose people to chemicals determined by the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm.

Proposition 65 requires that businesses operating in California as well as businesses marketing products in California provide fair and reasonable warnings unless the exposure level from the product is low enough to qualify for a conservative “safe harbor” level which is defined by the regulatory agency for each listed chemical and is deemed to pose no significant risk in the case of cancer (1 additional cancer in 100,000 cases), or no observable effect in the case of reproductive harm (no more than 1/1000thof the lowest level observed not to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm). There is no certain way for a manufacturer to know whether a product qualifies for the “safe harbor” because it is not an objective, content-based, standard.

Hobson & Motzer Inc. has instituted a company-wide policy to label all products that are shipped to or sold to consumers in California with the required Proposition 65 warning language. There are over nine hundred (900) chemicals on the Proposition 65 list and some Hobson & Motzer products have one or more of the listed chemicals in it. For example, steel, brass, rubber and most machined metals have small amounts of the listed chemicals in them. Hobson & Motzer has determined that conducting the necessary testing to certify exposure levels are within the Proposition 65 safe harbor on all products would be costly, difficult, uncertain, and time consuming.

Because we cannot be certain of the final destination of the components we produce, Hobson & Motzer is placing warning labels on all products shipped to ensure compliance with the California law.

Should you have further questions regarding the warning language, please contact your Hobson & Motzer representative or e-mail us from our website at www.hobsonmotzer.comwith specific product information and exposure concerns.

Sincerely,
Hobson & Motzer, Inc.