Poll of the Day > What's this thar CAProp 65?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I got a new camera lens and it has a CA Prop 65 warning on it...

I know it's about the usages of potentially cancerous materials... but, like, it's a camera lens.... I'm not going to eat the thing or rub up and down on it or grind it down and snort it.

Where's the cancer at?

---

Prop 65 is one of those things that had good intentions but went way overboard in execution.

Plenty of plastics arent really stable and basically bleed out material over time

They also put the warning on anything made with products containing carcinogens, regardless of how it is used

---

Everything causes cancer in CA. Even cancer drugs have the warning.

---

rjsilverthorn posted...

Prop 65 is one of those things that had good intentions but went way overboard in execution.

I think pretty much everyone ignores it too

---

Mead posted...

I think pretty much everyone ignores it too

Which is mostly a consequence of going overboard in execution. When you routinely tell people things they know are harmless are harmful, they stop listening to you.

---

the thing is, it doesn't tell me WHICH chemical is the carcinogen in question...

I just has a Prop65 sticker on it, it doesn't tell me if the thing is dripping in benzene or something

---

Yeah, took me awhile to figure why pencils have a prop 65 warning, but evidently wood shavings are carcinogenic. Of course that is probably only the case if you say work in lumber mill or something, but learn something new everyday I guess. Pencils are hazardous to your health according to Ca.

---

DragonClaw01 posted...

Yeah, took me awhile to figure why pencils have a prop 65 warning, but evidently wood shavings are carcinogenic. Of course that is probably only the case if you say work in lumber mill or something, but learn something new everyday I guess. Pencils are hazardous to your health according to Ca.

Right, but imagine a box of pencils with just a prop 65 sticker on it... you wouldn't know if it was the shaving or the lead/graphite or the eraser or the paint.

---

DragonClaw01 posted...

Yeah, took me awhile to figure why pencils have a prop 65 warning, but evidently wood shavings are carcinogenic. Of course that is probably only the case if you say work in lumber mill or something, but learn something new everyday I guess. Pencils are hazardous to your health according to Ca.

Yep, most sawdust is carcinogenic, enough so that wearing respiratory protection while doing any super-dusty work is a good idea if you do it often enough. Cedar is particularly bad (like an order of magnitude worse than other woods).

Of course, that's completely meaningless in the context of pencil usage.

---

Lokarin posted...

Right, but imagine a box of pencils with just a prop 65 sticker on it... you wouldn't know if it was the shaving or the lead/graphite or the eraser or the paint.

It was these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00314DBPI/ref=ask_ql_qh_dp_hza?th=1

There is no laquer on them, so I doubt it was the paint, although it could be the eraser or even the graphite dust, I suppose. There are many dangers to a pencil, I can't believe I used to chew on these cancer sticks =P.


---

Are you in California? I think there's only a risk if you're in California. If anything it might be the state of California causing cancers and they're just looking to blame it on anything else.

---