Cancer Warning

[Kris Cook]

I bought some 1/4" mirror holders at the hardware store to hold some plexiglass in a router cabinet project I am trying to finish up.

There is a warning on the back of the package "Cancer and Reproductive Harm". www.P65Warnings.ca.gov

I don't know if this reproductive harm is related to perhaps an accident that could occur during installation?

The cancer thing has really got me concerned.

What should a person do?

[Bill Dufour]

If you live in California ignore it. If you ever get cancer sue everyone who sold anything without that warning on it. You do know that you are going to die some day, don't you?
Bill D

[John K Jordan]

An old joke is “Will [insert product name here] cause cancer?” Answer:”Only in California.”

[roger wiegand]

Ah, the joy of laws created by the initiative process.

Some rodent, somewhere, was force fed a huge amount, likely of the metal used for plating the piece, and had a tumor. Rats are about 1000 times more sensitive to carcinogens than humans, and all rats pretty much get tumors on their own without being exposed to anything. But Prop 65 doesn't distinguish between signal and noise in the experiment, hence the meaningless label on everything. (Right up there with the utility of the "may contain" labeling on food items.)

It's always good advice not to eat your hardware.

[Brian Elfert]

A lot of companies put those warnings on just about everything they make because they don't want to be sued for not putting the label on.

[Edward Weber]

When I first moved out here, I had bought a vise, and it had that prop 65 warning on it.
Obviously, a chunk of cast iron wasn't going to give me cancer, so I asked someone.
Apparently it was a poorly written law. While done in good faith to try and protect consumers from cardiogenic products, it got twisted and skewed to the point of CYA, so now it's on just about everything.
The problem is that the same sticker is on products that actually need it, but it's gotten to be such a joke, it gets dismissed.

[Bill Dufour]

When it first came out many stores just put up a poster by the front door Warning products in this facility may cause cancer. Some still have them up to CTA.
Bill D

[Brian Tymchak]

When I first moved out here, I had bought a vise, and it had that prop 65 warning on it.
Obviously, a chunk of cast iron wasn't going to give me cancer, so I asked someone.


But the lubricants or rust inhibitor on the might. Not defending the law in any way. I've got no dog in this hunt.

[Edward Weber]

But the lubricants or rust inhibitor on the might. Not defending the law in any way. I've got no dog in this hunt.

Only if you lick it

[Bill Dufour]

Or if you eat the paint. Too much chrome or zinc plating could be bad. I suppose most paint solvents could be carcinogenic. New paint smells for months as the solvents evaporate. I bet new car smell is also carcinogenic.
Bill D

[Thomas McCurnin]

These warnings remind me . . .

My wife's hair dryer has a sticker on it warning one not to use the hair dryer in the shower. You realize that this label actually happened because some moron thought it might be a good idea to use the hair dryer in the shower.

On the back on my roll on deodorant it says not to use in your eyes. Yep, my bet is someone actually tried that, and as a result we have that warning label

On the tube of Preparation H, it says not to take orally. You know someone wrote them a letter, complaining that he/she ate the whole tube and still has hemorrhoids.

Then the little moisture absorbing packets. There is a warning not to eat those. Have you ever bought a piece of equipment thinking there might be something to eat in there?

Then automotive fanbelts--they have a warning to stop the car engine first before trying to change the belt. I would have loved to have been there the first time some guy tried that.

With apologizes to Bill Engvall.

[Jim Koepke]

Then automotive fanbelts--they have a warning to stop the car engine first before trying to change the belt. I would have loved to have been there the first time some guy tried that.

VW owners do it with the engine running to save time > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQhfcdQf1QA

jtk

[Edward Weber]

VW owners do it with the engine running to save time > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQhfcdQf1QA

jtk

Guys like that usually end up with the nickname of lefty or stubbs or...

[Bill Dufour]

That vise probably had a full color box or label. The glue and printers ink could be a problem. The chinesse may say it is good ink but do you really trust them enough to risk a lawsuit o just add that extra line to the label.
Bill D

[Bruce Wrenn]

VW owners do it with the engine running to save time > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQhfcdQf1QA

jtk didn't do that, but it was much quicker to drop engine out the bottom using fan belt as a sling and setting it up on bench (by hand) to change plugs and set valves. I was a LOT YOUNGER THEN.

[Bruce Wrenn]

California prides it's self on clean air, especially when it comes to electric power generation. Largest coal burning power plant in Utah produces electricity that is only sold in California. It doesn't count if it's across the border.

[Lawrence Duckworth]

California prides it's self on clean air, .

LOL...It was sometime in the early 2000's my daughter and I flew into LA, we were met by a Machinery Rep and I asked him about all the smoke we saw coming in and if it was because the fires were still raging.... He said NO.. that's smog this sh..hole always looks like this :)

[Mel Fulks]

Years ago hair dryers had asbestos in them , they still show up in junk shops. What guy among us, especially as a kid , never had some bad
experiences with zippers ? Makes me think of the old TV animal show “Wild Kingdom”…. “Watch out there ,Jim those teeth are sharp !”
And I always wondered why it was only California that knew what products caused cancer, then a few other states figured it out ,too.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I see the warning on things made of bone lately. I processed some bone yesterday and was slack with the mask and dust collection, Today my nose is very sore.

[Jerome Stanek]

Shouldn't there be a P65 warning on water

[Maurice Mcmurry]

California that knew what products caused cancer, then a few other states figured it out ,too.

Missouri inadvertently volunteered to be the testing ground for "dust abatement fluid" (no warning sticker). It was made from the off-fall of making enough agent orange to defoliate a small nation mixed with used motor oil. The Route 66 museum and state park near what used to be Times Beach MO is on a fairly long list of places to avoid in MO. Much of the detritus from the Manhattan project is buried just around the corner near Weldon Spring MO, under a 41 acre pile of rock (no warning stickers there either).

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Shouldn't there be a P65 warning on water

We have that in MO. Many private wells have been condemned. Rocheport MO had its own wells and water supply. The water was deemed un safe due to radionuclides and other contaminates around 2006 or 07. Small towns and rural areas are connecting to Consolidated Water so every one has access to water from a plant that has the recourses to deal with more and more contaminates in the aquifer. Chloroform, dichioromomethane, dibromochloromethane, and bromoforms levels keep going up in our water quality reports every year.

[Bruce Wrenn]

LOL...It was sometime in the early 2000's my daughter and I flew into LA, we were met by a Machinery Rep and I asked him about all the smoke we saw coming in and if it was because the fires were still raging.... He said NO.. that's smog this sh..hole always looks like this :)
It's called the LA basin for a reason.

[John Stankus]

My favorite is a bottle of purified sand from the laboratory (it's used for packing columns for separations and such). Basically, if you followed the label warnings you wouldn't go near a beach, at least not without a whole bunch of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) on.

I just looked up the SDS for Sand, white quartz ≥99.995% trace metals basis from the Sigma Aldrich (a lab supplier) website (though it seemed more dramatic on the bottle with the pictogram of the person in lab coat, gloves and goggles (and maybe a faceshield) The issue is most likely breathing the dust, but the same SDS is used for 20 grams or 100,000 pounds.
Hazard statement(s)
H350 May cause cancer.
H372 Causes damage to organs (Lungs) through prolonged orrepeated exposure if inhaled.
Precautionary statement(s)
P201 Obtain special instructions before use.
P202 Do not handle until all safety precautions have been read and
understood.
P260 Do not breathe dust.
P264 Wash skin thoroughly after handling.
P270 Do not eat, drink or smoke when using this product.
P280 Wear protective gloves/ protective clothing/ eye protection/ face
protection.
P308 + P313 IF exposed or concerned: Get medical advice/ attention.
P405 Store locked up.
P501 Dispose of contents/ container to an approved waste disposal
plant.

Looking further down I'm now interested in the Firefighting measures section
SECTION 5: Firefighting measures
5.1 Extinguishing media
Suitable extinguishing media
Use extinguishing measures that are appropriate to local circumstances and the surrounding
environment.
Unsuitable extinguishing media
For this substance/mixture no limitations of extinguishing agents are given.

This gets me to a pet peeve of mine on the MSDS/SDS safety sheets. Often times they say use appropriate protective gear, but do not indicate what is appropriate. Depending on the chemical your are dealing with some gloves could be good and some could be bad to use, but they don't tell you that for fear of liability. Back in my semiconductor days, I had an argument with our safety guy since they had vinyl aprons for ALL chemical handling. As a chemist and knowing the range of reactive chemicals the semiconductor fabrication process uses I told him that vinyl was not appropriate in all cases. He insisted because that was the directive from on high.

John

[Edward Weber]

Life, participate at your own risk

[Brian Elfert]

These warnings remind me . . .

My wife's hair dryer has a sticker on it warning one not to use the hair dryer in the shower. You realize that this label actually happened because some moron thought it might be a good idea to use the hair dryer in the shower.


Warnings not to use in shower were not enough so many hair dryers now come with an integrated GFCI in case they come in contact with water. There are still bathrooms without GFCI receptacles because the house was built before they were required.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Life, participate at your own risk

Well said Edward. If you live long enough you will likely get some kind of cancer. This reminds me, I am overdue for a wellness check. Thats a good new year resolution, make that appointment.

[Kris Cook]

Years ago hair dryers had asbestos in them , they still show up in junk shops. What guy among us, especially as a kid , never had some bad
experiences with zippers ? Makes me think of the old TV animal show “Wild Kingdom”…. “Watch out there ,Jim those teeth are sharp !”
And I always wondered why it was only California that knew what products caused cancer, then a few other states figured it out ,too.

Good one Mel.

[Lee DeRaud]

When it first came out many stores just put up a poster by the front door Warning products in this facility may cause cancer. Some still have them up to CTA.
IIRC, the mere presence of fluorescent tube lighting requires the warning, so pretty much any non-residential buildings got signs at the entrance.

Including the oncology center at my local hospital. :)

[Lee DeRaud]

Then automotive fanbelts--they have a warning to stop the car engine first before trying to change the belt.
Could be worse:
493028

[Dave Anderson NH]

Cynical me. I always liked the snide takeoff of the Abraham Lincoln quote rephrased as: You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time...... and that is usually sufficient.

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

I had a box of Dollar General brand steel wool soap pads for scrubbing pots and pans. It had a warning that said "Not for Internal Use" ????

[Bill Dufour]

I am still waiting for the sign by the out door stating that sunlight causes cancer and I should never leave the store.
I bet the ink on credit cards and money causes cancer here.
Bill D