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? Why would they market/sell a unit with such a toxic chemical in it?
1: it's not that toxic, & therefore is allowed, so they are warning all the vexatious ligitants not to bother suing
2: it's toxic, but handwashing as requested deals with the problem, therefore vexatious ligitants need not bother there, either (perhaps there is a coating of some kind on the cord to help it retract better...?)
since this warning only mentions "lead" (which doesn't afaik cause cancer OR birth defects) and "lead compounds" (which could be anything, since they don't state which compounds it is) frankly, i'd not be that concerned. it's hard to imagine toxic substances can be picked up from vacuum cleaner cords but not other cords which don't come with such warnings.
it seems to me rather more likely there'd be lead in the vacuum dust you suck up. however, if you're bothered, buy a different one. i've bought a few vacuums in my time & never seen any such warnings - which is why it's difficult to imagine what the problem might be without further information. lead can be problem if ingested or breathed; it can lead to very minor brain damage. what other "compounds" they are talking about is anyone's guess.
generally these days, specific problems invoke specific warnings. this is unspecific to the point where it seems to me a "just in case" warning, for people who might (for example) dismantle the vacuum cleaner & touch all the bits, get cancer 20 years later, & go looking for someone to blame. that's my interpretation of what you've supplied.
having said that, many substances, including certain plastics, become a considerable problem in quantity over time. smart people have already heavily reduced their use of plastics. it might be that. you could ask the manufacturer for _specific_ information, otherwise it's very hard to tell what the problem might be. kylie
Lead keeps the PVC from deteriorating. If you wiped the cord with a cloth, the cloth wouldn't pick up any lead. If you handled a foot of cord with sweaty hands and licked your hands off, you might ingest 1 microgram of lead.
Drinking water with up to 15 micrograms per liter is considered safe, so what you could ingest from the cord is pretty small.
Lead is a potent neurotoxin. No level of exposure is safe. Percentages in the parts per billion have been consistently shown to have deleterious effect. No cutesy, tongue-in-cheek responses will change that fact. See the attached report from MIT on the effects of atmospheric lead on children's IQs.
Lead needs to be gone from consumer goods. There are other solutions. Lead is for the lazy.
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