Back in the day, pencils had lead in them, I know I had them in my mouth, chewing away while in class or doing homework. I was actually stabbed with one when a classmate was handing one to me, I still have the mark on my palm if I look really hard for it, that was over 30 yrs ago and I’m still alive and kicking.

Pencil “lead” is made with graphite and has been made with graphite since the 1500s or so. (Never lead. That was a misnomer.)

The following text, as borrowed from Wikipedia, points out that the “lead” in pencils has been — for many a century now — made of graphite, etc., but not the (highly toxic) element Lead which was used by scribes in ancient Rome. I’m assuming you weren’t chewing on pencils in school THAT long ago…

“A pencil is a writing or drawing instrument consisting of a thin stick of pigment (usually graphite, but can also be coloured pigment or charcoal) and clay, usually encased in a thin wood cylinder…”

“.. The archetypal pencil may have been the stylus, which was a thin metal stick, often made from lead and used for scratching on papyrus, a form of early paper. They were used extensively by the ancient Egyptians and Romans. The word pencil comes from the Latin word pencillus which means ‘little tail’… “

Now, the PAINT might have contained lead!

My main problem with all of these laws that go too far, including those that force you to be safe with your own life (seat belts) is the following.

Are we trying to make people live forever? We do not have the room or resource for humans that live until 150 years old. Death is required. As horrible as that sounds, people need to die sooner or later.

Frankly, a large portion of the population does nothing to add to the overall good. I’m talking about the increase in criminals and stupid kids that will never go anywhere. A bigger population just makes it worse by having less to go around, hindering the production of better people.

I know this all sounds bad, even fascist in a way but its a fact that needs to be considered.

Let people live they way they want and take the risks they want as long it doesn’t pass on that risk to someone else. If they die….then so be it. I’d rather live to the fullest for a short period than lead a long dull existence. Live and stop worrying about death! There’s nothing you can do to stop it.

I wonder if they use lead in the production of the warning sticker.

Take a look at your Christmas tree lights this December, folks. Lead warnings all over them.

While I agree that pencils we’ve all used did not contain lead……

I would not quote Wikipedia to make a point, not a reputable source of accurate information.

Personally, I won’t buy any product with this warning label. The onus should be on the manufacturer to use alternative and safer materials… why should I spend money on something that’s going to give me and my family cancer. 1 in 100,000 (even after 70 years) is far too much. This junk needs to get off the market. Wake up, people.

Death by music player? I think not.
I think this law is just a LITTLE bit harsh.

“…one in 100,000’ chance of developing cancer as a result of that exposure.”

Yeah, let us attempt to save that 100, 101st person from dying of cancer from a MIDI used for 70 years straight even though it was probably obsolete by the fifth year they had it, and that the other 100,000 people will be saved, even though half of the other 100, 000 people will probably have cancer in some form anyway. Give me a break. But I do admit, as a rabid nature lover, I do give them props for ,erm, exuberance?

My only fear with this is the meaning of the label is diminished. How does a person know how much lead or other dangerous chemical is in an object? I would imagine some products bearing that label may actually be dangerous to handle more than necessary, while evidently there is no danger at all to handle other products.

It’s amazing how there’s no one leading one big effort to twarf the cancer epidemic. People die of cancer by the hundreds of thousands and no one knows why. They just keep going to work, hoping to be avoided. First there was the Dodo bird, then there was the chemical soup happy Dodo humans. We’re killing the environment in which we live in and we’re killing others and ourselves. Some Godly image. Looks like we are doing the same thing as a cancer does. -Frank was here.

The lead in Led Zeppelin was also found to be non-toxic but had excellent riffs.

Tom

I understand the need for the warning labels on products, but there has to be a better measuring stick than the “more than one excess case of cancer out of 100,000 people over a period of 70 years”. That is beyond extreme and just plain silly. Given what has been described in the article, I’m surprised we don’t see that sticker on EVERY single item sold.

California had a good intent in writing that law, but they went beyond sane. Overkill like this will cause those warning stickers to be useless as no one will bother to read/care about them since they will be ubiquitous.

Just to clear up a point on some of the earlier posts — the lead in pencils was in the yellow paint on the outside, not in the graphite.

Lead in anything is a bad thing. My family was poisoned by lead in our drinking water. It came from plumbing materials used to deliver the drinking water. It was a nightmare trying to identify what was causing our symptoms. The most vulinerable population are children who have developing brains and the fetus who can’t expel the lead once exposed.

I agree with John on this one. It is becoming more difficult to say what is really dangerous and what is not. Despite that, I appreciate labels of the sort that are definitely more honest than say- the mobile phone retailers who are quick to declare that mobile phone or wifi radiation is completely safe.

But the article brought out the main drawback – out of fear of litigation, every company will put the sticker on every item, regardless of whether it contains lead or not, simply to cover their bases. We’re reaching a point where every item on the market will have a generic, overly broad warning that it might in some way cause harm.

Anyone using a computer right now has toxic heavy metals right next to them. To say “I refuse to buy these items for my health” might as well throw their computer, car, TV, cell phone, etc out right now. This is nothing new in our lives.

You are right you shouldn’t buy products with this warning label…but the warning label was in manual which was sealed in a plastic bag inside the box! Maybe if they put it on the outside like a pack of cigarettes but when they put in the back of the manual right after the Japanese section how am I suppose to see it before I buy it? Am I really going to go through the trouble of returning this product now? What a pointless thing! Now I don’t like the idea of using this keyboard and my desire to study is really diminished.