Doing business in California
Unpacking the LCD projector I find this important message:
WARNING
Handling the cord on this product or cords associated with accessories sold with this product, will expose you to lead, a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer, and birth defects or other reproductive harm.
Wash hands after handling.
Looking through the box, I find a power cable and a half-dozen data cables. Power cables are made of copper, usually with plated brass terminals spot-welded onto the wire, wrapped in sisal or nylon reinforcing fibres and encased in molded polyvinyl chloride (PVC) insulation. If they contain any lead, it’s only trace or incidental amounts.
It’s a similar story for the data cables. Normally they’re made of copper, with crimped plated brass terminals, insulated with polyethylene, twisted with nylon reinforcing fibres and wrapped in polyethylene/aluminum shielding and molded with PVC ends and outer coating. I wouldn’t expect to find any significant lead there, either. At least, no more than on the outer surface of any other electronic product.
So why did the manufacturer have to put in an extra little slip of paper to say that the state of California says it is a dangerous product? It probably started with a study where grad students used extremely sensitive equipment and found tiny trace amounts of lead in the PVC insulation of power and data cables. This would certainly be significant if you were to burn the cables and breathe the smoke, but direct lead transmission is a remote possibility. (In any case breathing particulate matter, cyanide, and dioxins would be a much bigger problem)
After the study was published, a state bureaucrat said to himself, “there is no known acceptable level of lead” which is certainly true for things you eat, drink, and breathe. But if surface lead is a health hazard, the warning should be; “Wash hands after touching any man-made object.”
Then the state informed the importers that they couldn’t sell anything in the state unless it contained a warning. And it turned out to be cheaper to put the California warning in eveything Sanyo ships anywhere in the US, even Illinois.
It must be nearly impossible to do business in California.
It’s remarkable how effective is the phrase “known to the state of California.” It causes me to disregard whatever follows as complete nonsense. I wonder what else is known to them; That low-flow toilets save water?
I’ve always found that statement amusing, too. I once saw a typo on one of these warnings which said that it is “known to cause cancer in the state of California.” I’m guessing that the lead on these cables comes either from vaporized solder, or from catalysts used either in the production of the vinyl chloride or for polymerization.
I think that the facts disagree with your assessment of how well one can do business in California. California is (even per capita) one of the most productive states in the country. Why that is is another matter.
BTW, PVC does not produce cyanide when it burns. It produces vinyl choride and other chlorinated compounds. Polyurethane produces cyanide. Don’t get me wrong, vinyl chloride is still quite toxic, but not as toxic as cyanide.