Lead in vacuum cleaner cord?
m...@privacy.net
After reading the manual carefully I found this
warning:
WARNING: THE CORDS, WIRES AND/OR CABLES SUPPLIED WITH
THlS PRODUCT CONTAINS CHEMICALS, INCLUDING LEAD OR LEAD
COMPOUNDS, KNOWN TO THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA TO CAUSE
CANCER AND BIRTH DEFECTS OR OTHER REPRODUCTIVE HARM.
WASH HANDS AFTER USING
Took the unit back and bought a similar vac form
Hoover.... but had the SAME warning in the manual!
What gives? Why would they market/sell a unit with
such a toxic chemical in it?
Rod Speed
> I recently bought a small Dirt Devil Dynamite vacuum.
> After reading the manual carefully I found this warning:
> WARNING: THE CORDS, WIRES AND/OR CABLES SUPPLIED WITH
> THlS PRODUCT CONTAINS CHEMICALS, INCLUDING LEAD OR LEAD
> COMPOUNDS, KNOWN TO THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA TO CAUSE
> CANCER AND BIRTH DEFECTS OR OTHER REPRODUCTIVE HARM.
> WASH HANDS AFTER USING
> Took the unit back and bought a similar vac form
> Hoover.... but had the SAME warning in the manual!
> What gives?
Just the usual mindless silly stuff imposed by legislation, in this case california.
> Why would they market/sell a unit with such a toxic chemical in it?
They dont, lead isnt a toxic chemical in that sense.
Dennis
Perhaps in the solder used in the electrical connections?
Just wash your hands and don't worry about it too much.
Dennis (evil)
--
"There is a fine line between participation and mockery" - Wally
m...@privacy.net
>> Why would they market/sell a unit with such a toxic chemical in it?
>
>They dont, lead isnt a toxic chemical in that sense.
How so Rod?
If I'm handing the cord and get it on my hands.... am I
not exposing myself to some risk?
m...@privacy.net
>>What gives? Why would they market/sell a unit with
>>such a toxic chemical in it?
>
>Perhaps in the solder used in the electrical connections?
Possible I suppose
Rod Speed
> Rod Speed <rod.sp...@gmail.com> wrote
> How so Rod?
Nope, its been used in solder and other stuff like sinkers and shot for centurys.
Anthony Matonak
I did a quick google search and it appears that lead is
used to stabilize the PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) plastic
that the cord is made from. Lead doesn't have to be used
but it's cheaper than less toxic materials so it'll be
found in almost all PVC.
These cords, and anything else with PVC like garden
hoses, have always had lead but it's only recently that
laws have been passed saying that they have to tell you
about it.
You might call the manufacturer and see if they can ship
you lead free cords. Some articles mentioned that as a
possibility.
Anthony
Al Bundy
There is lead in some of the wiring connections and several places in
the motor itself. The amount is small and you are never in contact
with it.
Be more afraid of the dust you are taking into your lungs while using
any vacuum. What are you doing about that? Nothing, I bet.
hchi...@hotmail.com
First, the statement presumes that the STATE OF CALIFORNIA has somehow
become sentient. I sincerely doubt that has occured. Secondly, it
assumes that the STATE OF CALIFORNIA is somehow able to predict your
future health issues, which it cannot. Thirdly, it assumes that
people take STATE OF CALIFORNIA as an authority. I do not.
The STATE OF CALIFORNIA can sit on it and spin. I lived through the
era of lead in gasoline, have at least 300 pounds of lead in various
forms (mostly batteries) in various equipment and locations, have
soldered water pipes with lead solder, have cast lead, have reloaded
cartridges, and used lead weights while diving. A little lead solder
or lead in PVC in a rarely used appliance ain't goina kill me or
anyone else.
Why would someone market a product with such a toxic chemical?
Hopefully to piss off the nanny government in the STATE OF CALIFORNIA.
Seerialmom
>
> - Show quoted text -
The nanny government you mention also gave out lunch bags with "lead
paint" used to decorate it.
and the group that gave them out were from the Dept. of Health "Eat 5
A Day" council. Tried to find an original article but kept running
into these other sites that just referenced the article.
Mary Mathews
Has anyone heard any discussion of using lead crystal glasses, etc?
Thanks. Mary
Rod Speed
> Has anyone heard any discussion of using lead crystal glasses, etc?
They're fine. The dont release any lead to the contents.
The Real Bev
> Has anyone heard any discussion of using lead crystal glasses, etc?
> Thanks. Mary
Yes. Google. Don't drink orange juice or any other acidic liquid out
of lead crystal.
--
Cheers,
Bev
*******************************************
My computer doesn't have to be friendly;
civil is entirely sufficient.
Gary Heston
<m...@privacy.net> wrote:
[ ... ]
>What gives? Why would they market/sell a unit with
>such a toxic chemical in it?
Because it's the best material for the job, and you're not
going to come in contact with significant quantities during
normal use of a vacuum. If you dismantle it and eat any brass
(contains lead) contact or soldered connection (solder is a
lead-tin alloy), you have more to worry about that the lead
content.
BTW, your faucet is probably brass and contains greater than
0.1% lead.
Electronic devices "soldered" with pure tin have a high failure
rate--if there's no lead in the connections, little hair-thin
tin fibers grow out of them and cause short circuits. (These are
called "whiskers", and apparently have to do with tin molecules
migrating due to electrical flow.) This is causing a problem
in Europe where elimination of lead is being require.
And, and Harry said, incidental contact isn't going to cause a
problem. If you eat it, that's a different matter.
As to lead crystal, don't use anything aciditic in it. Orange
juice, for example.
Gary
--
Gary Heston ghe...@hiwaay.net http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/
Yoko Onos' former driver tried to extort $2M from her, threating to
"release embarassing recordings...". What, he has a copy of her album?
Jeff
> Mary Mathews wrote:
>
>> Has anyone heard any discussion of using lead crystal glasses, etc?
>> Thanks. Mary
>
> Yes. Google. Don't drink orange juice or any other acidic liquid out
> of lead crystal.
>
Note that lead is most harmful in developing individuals that don't
get the other trace metals needed for development. The lead subs in for
these. A grown adult with a good diet has less to be concerned with.
Jeff
Vic Smith
Anybody else do toy soldier lead molding when they were a kid?
Ah, I loved the smell of lead fumes!
--Vic
Rod Speed
> Mary Mathews wrote
>> Has anyone heard any discussion of using lead crystal glasses, etc?
> Yes. Google. Don't drink orange juice or any other acidic liquid out of lead crystal.
The amount of lead you can get that way is completely trivial.
We got a hell of a lot more when lead was still used in gasoline.
Rod Speed
>> Has anyone heard any discussion of using lead crystal glasses, etc?
> Yes. Google. Don't drink orange juice or any other acidic liquid out of lead crystal.
Its a trivial problem with glasses, and few use them for orange juice anyway.
http://md1.csa.com/partners/viewrecord.php?requester=gs&collection=TRD&recid=WCA088757WC&q=&uid=788586998&setcookie=yes
Rod Speed
>>>> Has anyone heard any discussion of using lead crystal glasses, etc?
>>> Yes. Google. Don't drink orange juice or any other acidic liquid out of lead crystal.
>> I believe that also includes most wines.
>> Note that lead is most harmful in developing individuals that don't
>> get the other trace metals needed for development. The lead subs in
>> for these. A grown adult with a good diet has less to be concerned with.
> Anybody else do toy soldier lead molding when they were a kid?
Nope, but I did get the lead out of bullets etc.
And did a lot of soldering too.
> Ah, I loved the smell of lead fumes!
Corse they will now claim that thats the reason you are the way you are now |-)
Goomba38
> As to lead crystal, don't use anything aciditic in it. Orange
> juice, for example.
>
>
> Gary
>
The problems with lead crystal is if when you store wine or such in it
over long term. Just drink out of them and don't let your drink sit for
days....
Goomba38
Rod Speed
> Rod Speed wrot
And there are few that do it like that, like I said.
Rod Speed
> Gary Heston wrote
>> As to lead crystal, don't use anything aciditic in it. Orange juice, for example.
> The problems with lead crystal is if when you store wine or such in it over long term. Just drink out of them and
> don't let your drink sit for days....
And even if you do let it sit for weeks in say a decanter, with wine etc that gets
a lot more of an effect, it isnt that much lead compared with what we used to get.
It isnt as if too many little kids will be drinking much wine from lead crystal decanters etc.
Seerialmom
> Mary Mathews <maryatbe...@webtv.net> wrote:
> > Has anyone heard any discussion of using lead crystal glasses, etc?
>
> They're fine. The dont release any lead to the contents.
One of the things I had heard before was that it was the lead used in
the colbalt blue pottery jugs that helped cause the fall of Rome. The
wine would leach due to the acidity.
Cindy Hamilton
Perhaps you should investigate the allowable limits for lead in
drinking water. Yes, they allow some lead in drinking water.
Oh, the State of California also knows that sand is a carcinogen.
Plain
old sand.
Cindy Hamilton
Rod Speed
There's been various claims along those lines, and with lead pipes as well.
Doesnt explain why the barbarians that took over after the romans
continued to do the same sort of thing and didnt have a problem.
We ended up with a hell of a lot more lead when we had lead based paint
and lead in gasoline, and that didnt produce any collapse of civilisation.
Even the 60s which were when lead based paint was much more of
a problem than it is today, its a tad hard to blame the hippys on lead
although plenty of those were pretty dramatically brain dead.
George
silicosis.
Seerialmom
> Seerialmom <seerial...@yahoo.com> wrote
I agree. And when I was a kid and didn't know better I was always
chewing on stuff; one of the things I recall was the lead solder my
dad had as an electronics technician. Of course as a kid in the 60's
another fun thing to play with was mercury, too. It was so neat the
way it shined and rolled around in your hands.
Rod Speed
Yeah, when I was a little kid the dentist used to give
it to the kids to play with to keep them occupied.
Mary Mathews
Thank you, all. I really appreciate all the input, and perhaps feel more
comfortable when making decisions on this topic. Mary
Gordon
> Dennis <dg...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>>>What gives? Why would they market/sell a unit with
>>>such a toxic chemical in it?
>>
>>Perhaps in the solder used in the electrical connections?
>
> Possible I suppose
>
And right now you are surrounded by it.
Your Mouse, MOnitor, keyboard, and computer
and computer speakers all contain small
amounts of lead solder.
Tin/lead solder has been used to assemble
electronic products for decades. And it
hasn't killed us yet.
Quit stressin'
Gary Heston
Vic Smith <thismaila...@comcast.net> wrote:
>On Tue, 08 Jan 2008 23:58:10 -0500, Jeff <jeff@spam_me_not.com> wrote:
>>The Real Bev wrote:
>>> Mary Mathews wrote:
>>>> Has anyone heard any discussion of using lead crystal glasses, etc?
>>>> Thanks. Mary
>>> Yes. Google. Don't drink orange juice or any other acidic liquid out
>>> of lead crystal.
>> I believe that also includes most wines.
>> Note that lead is most harmful in developing individuals that don't
>>get the other trace metals needed for development. The lead subs in for
>>these. A grown adult with a good diet has less to be concerned with.
And on the other hand, children recover from lead poisioning much better
than adults. Don't be careless, but don't panic because there's a bit in
the same room with you.
Oh--your car battery is a lead-acid device, and contains several pounds
of lead.
>Anybody else do toy soldier lead molding when they were a kid?
>Ah, I loved the smell of lead fumes!
At one time, lead acetate was used as a sweetener for confectionaries;
it was known as sugar of lead.
m...@privacy.net
>> If I'm handing the cord and get it on my hands....
>> am I not exposing myself to some risk?
>
>Nope, its been used in solder and other stuff like sinkers and shot for centurys.
Ok so the lead may NOT be in the cord vinyl itself but
in the connections instead.....where I wont be touching
them?
m...@privacy.net
>And right now you are surrounded by it.
>Your Mouse, MOnitor, keyboard, and computer
>and computer speakers all contain small
>amounts of lead solder.
>
>Tin/lead solder has been used to assemble
>electronic products for decades. And it
>hasn't killed us yet.
>
>Quit stressin'
I don't mind it being in the :"connections" as wont be
touching them..... but it sounded like it was in the
cord jacket itself which I DO handle on daily basis.
No?
m...@privacy.net
wrote:
>I did a quick google search and it appears that lead is
>used to stabilize the PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) plastic
>that the cord is made from. Lead doesn't have to be used
>but it's cheaper than less toxic materials so it'll be
>found in almost all PVC.
>
>These cords, and anything else with PVC like garden
>hoses, have always had lead but it's only recently that
>laws have been passed saying that they have to tell you
>about it.
>
>You might call the manufacturer and see if they can ship
>you lead free cords. Some articles mentioned that as a
>possibility.
>
>Anthony
OK thanks Anthony
m...@privacy.net
>Be more afraid of the dust you are taking into your lungs while using
>any vacuum. What are you doing about that? Nothing, I bet.
Good point
Wear a dust mask huh?
m...@privacy.net
>Because it's the best material for the job, and you're not
>going to come in contact with significant quantities during
>normal use of a vacuum.
OK thanks
Anthony Matonak
No, it's in the cord PVC itself..... where you will be
touching it.
Anthony
--
Advice on Usenet is worth every penny you paid for it.
m...@privacy.net
wrote:
>> Ok so the lead may NOT be in the cord vinyl itself but
>> in the connections instead.....where I wont be touching
>> them?
>
>No, it's in the cord PVC itself..... where you will be
>touching it.
OK
So is it a "real" threat? Or not even worth worrying
abt if washing hands after use?
A you say..... more credible risks may be in breathing
the dust kicked up by the unit anyway huh?
Not being paranoid here..... just trying to ascertain
if this is worth doing something abt or not.
Rod Speed
> Rod Speed <rod.sp...@gmail.com> wrote
Its more likely to be in the plastic, and so you can touch it.
I just meant that we saw much higher levels of exposure to lead in the past,
particularly when it was used in paint and gasoline, and that isnt a problem
for adults. Its primarily a problem for little kids and particularly with what
they put in their mouths with paint, and when their parents renovate etc.
Rod Speed
> Anthony Matonak <antho...@nothing.like.socal.rr.com> wrote
>>> Ok so the lead may NOT be in the cord vinyl itself but in the
>>> connections instead.....where I wont be touching them?
>> No, it's in the cord PVC itself..... where you will be touching it.
> OK
> So is it a "real" threat?
Nope, like I said, we saw MUCH higher levels of exposure
in the past when it was used in paint and gasoline.
If it was going to have affected you, its done now basically.
> Or not even worth worrying abt if washing hands after use?
Only if you're absolutely paranoid. I dont bother myself.
> A you say..... more credible risks may be in breathing
> the dust kicked up by the unit anyway huh?
Yep.
> Not being paranoid here..... just trying to ascertain
> if this is worth doing something abt or not.
Dont worry about it.
Cindy Hamilton
Yes, but they print the warning on bags of play sand. I don't think
anybody is going to get silicosis in the open air of the sandbox.
Cindy Hamilton
Anthony Matonak
> Anthony Matonak <antho...@nothing.like.socal.rr.com> wrote:
>
>> No, it's in the cord PVC itself.....
>
> abt if washing hands after use?
I would like to think that if lead in plastic was a "real"
threat then states like California would not allow it to be
sold to the public.
Anthony
Gordon
>>No, it's in the cord PVC itself..... where you will be
>>touching it.
>
> OK
>
> So is it a "real" threat? Or not even worth worrying
> abt if washing hands after use?
This is a new one for me. In ordinary use you probably
have nothing to worry about. THe danger comes if the
cord gets damaged, by running over it with the vacumme
cleaner for instance. Or burning it. In those cases
minute particles of plastic with lead in them can be
released. Or in the case of burning, the smoke will
contain lead. but if the cord gets burnt there is a
bigger danger from the chlorine gas that is released.
Steve
>m...@privacy.net wrote:
>> I recently bought a small Dirt Devil Dynamite vacuum.
>> After reading the manual carefully I found this warning:
>> WARNING: THE CORDS, WIRES AND/OR CABLES SUPPLIED WITH
>> THlS PRODUCT CONTAINS CHEMICALS, INCLUDING LEAD
>
Unless you eat the vacuum. That's what the warning should say - THIS
VACUUM IS NOT A SNACK ITEM
--
In 1969, I published a small book on Humility.
It was a pioneering work which has not, to my knowledge, been superseded.
...Lord Longford