Lead contamination warning found on new laptop PS

[ahhaa]

I was looking at the pdf Users Guide for a new Toshiba laptop and found this warning on page 2:

Handling the cord on this product will expose you to lead, a chemical known to the State of California to cause birth defects or other reporductive harm. WASH HANDS AFTER HANDLING

I'd imagine mebbe they used lead in the black vinyl sheathing on the cord, RFI reasons perhaps?

This did get me thinking about the coffeeshop/laptop syndrome... but also what other cords might be hazardous? Mice? USB? Xmas lites?

ps there was also a warning that you might char your gonads by actually using this device on your lap ( or words to that effect)

[powerpc123]

Similar warning was found on a "Made in China" Christmas tree we purchased at wallymart. Promply Returned

[JohnnyMalaria]

Interesting. Turns out this is normal practice to prevent the cord from perishing (splitting etc with age).

This is a new California thing - a state that loves to put warnings on everything. Supposedly it is a problem when using sweaty hands. This same warning already exists on.....fishing weights.

http://www.uos.harvard.edu/ehs/pr/pr18052004.shtml

[valvehead]

OK, I understand the concern about exposure to lead-based paint on toys, but that's because young children have a tendency to stick anything and everything in their mouths. That is a legitimate problem.

Any lead that may be on your computer will likely only be trace amounts left over from assembly. Unless you stick that cord in your mouth, you shouldn't worry about it. I am not saying you shouldn't wash your hands before eating though.

Lead solder has been used in nearly everything electronic until a few years ago. It does not pose a risk in ordinary use because it does a very good job of staying put on the circuit board. It only becomes a problem when dead electronic items are thrown away.

[JohnnyMalaria]

That's not the point.

The lead is in the leads deliberately and always has been. It's not a Chinese contaminated toy thing. It's to stop the leads from perishing.

It's nothing new. All that's new is the Californian warning. Specifically because of the increased amounts of lead that get on your hands when they are sweating. The figures quoted in the Harvard article are high (micrograms per foot).

Still, I'm off to check my scuba weights - just in case I should choose to suck on them.

[hech54]

It's nothing new. All that's new is the Californian warning.

Exactly.

[davidsama]

Christmas lights

[ahhaa]

well, I knew a stained glass artisan who first got nervous disorders, then lost the use of their hands and eventually died miserably of lead poisoning.

[redwudz]

There are two artists in our area that have lead poisoning. More from soldering than from the handling, but either is a potential risk. For both, it was a 10+ year intensive exposure to the materials, both stained glass and soldered copper statues.

For the cords, probably wiping them down once with a paper towel damped with detergent would remove the majority of the surface contaminants. A unplugged cord, though.

I'm glad someone reads those electronic device warnings. I like the ones where low voltage battery devices warn of electrocution.

[ks47]

Although it’s not in the state of Michigan, this is a typical California law enacted, affecting other states called Prop 65 of 1986.…

Proposition 65 is a California law that has been in effect since 1986 to promote clean drinking water and keep toxic substances that cause cancer and birth defects out of consumer products. Proposition 65's formal title is "The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986." It is administered by Cal/EPA's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA).
The law requires that anyone at reasonable risk of exposure be informed when substances classified as toxins are present. Since enactment, it has been the reason for the addition of notices of specific contents to consumer product labels. Along with the added label requirements, an official list of implicated substances is maintained and made publicly available. Entries are added or removed based on current scientific information. All substances listed show their known or suspected risk factors, a unique CAS chemical classification number, the date they were listed, and if so, whether they have been delisted.

This has become in a typical fashion a tool in for sleaze bag lawyers, where lawsuit happy California has no shortage, seeking small businesses like nail salons & auto repair shops, to sue in order to line their pockets. In my medical profession, this Prop 65 warning is displayed prominently in every room, even though the medical devices has been approved by FDA to be safe and effective….

[edit] Abuse of Proposition 65
The legislation is very controversial.[citation needed] Most of the Proposition 65 lawsuits are filed by private attorneys some of whose entire business is built on filing Proposition 65 lawsuits.[citation needed]
Labeling requirements conceded the reality that listing and classifying substances did not help the consumer if the contents of a purchase were unknown. At the same time, there were no other labeling requirements to support the proposition. Industry critics and corporate defense lawyers charge that Proposition 65 is "a clever and irritating mechanism used by litigious NGOs and others to publicly spank politically incorrect opponents ranging from the American gun industry to seafood retailers, etc." [4]
In addition, because the law allows private citizens to sue and collect damages from any business violating the law, there have been cases of lawyers and law firms using Proposition 65 to force monetary settlements out of California businesses.[5] The Attorney General's office has cited several instances of settlements where plaintiff attorneys received significant awards without providing for environmental benefit to the people of California, resulting in the requirement of the Attorney General's approval of pre-trial Proposition 65 settlement

I think you’ll find excessive labels from ladders to plastic bags are primarily to preclude abusive lawsuits, as in the case of Toshiba laptops.

TS

[hech54]

"Caution (it never was...but) This Bag Is Not A Toy"