Under Proposition 65, businesses with 10 or more employees must warn consumers and workers of exposure to significant amounts of chemicals on a list prepared by the governor of substances known to the state to cause cancer. The requirement goes into effect 12 months after a chemical is added to the governor's list, which now contains about 60 chemicals. Businesses that fail to comply are subject to lawsuits that can be brought by any citizen and fines of up to $2,500 per day.

Among substances already on the Proposition 65 list are such commonplace chemicals as benzene, present in gasoline, and arsenic, which is used in pesticides. Next month, a [George Deukmejian]-appointed panel of scientists is scheduled to decide whether to add a number of other substances, including alcohol and aflatoxins, a naturally occurring family of substances found in a number of products including peanut butter and corn oil.

Restaurants, which may add the cancer-causing chemical benzo(a)pyrene to foods through broiling and smoking, would be able to satisfy the warning requirements with a generic sign or menu notice stating that chemicals causing cancer or birth defects "may be present in foods or beverages sold or served here."