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I was at my local annual Train Show at the weekend and one of my purchases was a HO Bachmann Silver series 40" 3 Dome Tank Car in Transcontinental Oil Co' colours.
When I got home I noticed a small sticker on the back of the box stating: "Warning, this product contains a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm" needless to say I was a bit concerned on reading this and wondered if anyone out there had come across this before and knew about the issue. Should the dealer I bought this from be selling these? is there a real danger in touching this car?
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When I got home I noticed a small sticker on the back of the box stating: "Warning, this product contains a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm" ...
That's your problem right there. They go overboard in requiring warning labels and such on anything sold in their state. As long as you don't put pieces of the model in your mouth you should be fine!
They're safe as long as you don't go into California with them!
Yes they go overboard with the labels, like they're covering their butts for any possible scenario. Basically anything plastic can be bad for you, even some of the people there.
This label is due to the California's Prop 65, leading to the The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, possibly the silliest law ever passed. Since there is civil liability for not having a label if any part of a product could, in any way, cause some form of cancer, even if misused, almost every business in California will plaster this label on everything they make. There is no penalty for having a non-hazardous product labeled as possibly hazardous. This leads to no useful information for consumers but but plenty of lawsuit opportunities for "public interest groups" and NGO's. This is one of the reasons I no longer live in Califronia.
That law requires products sold in California that use one of around 500 products in the manufacturing process. Sergent couplers have the warning cause the chemical used to weather the coupler is on that list. Most paints, oils, and chemicals are on that list, along with certain plastics...
What's really silly is that similar signs are also prominently displayed in grocery and liquor stores in California....gotta watch out for that toxic broccoli and lets not even get started on the beer...
That reminds me of one of my favorite cartoons, The Far Side:
A waitress at an Eskimo restaurant brings a plate of food to a patron and says "Careful, the plate is really cold!"
I was at my local annual Train Show at the weekend and one of my purchases was a HO Bachmann Silver series 40" 3 Dome Tank Car in Transcontinental Oil Co' colours.
When I got home I noticed a small sticker on the back of the box stating: "Warning, this product contains a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm" needless to say I was a bit concerned on reading this and wondered if anyone out there had come across this before and knew about the issue. Should the dealer I bought this from be selling these? is there a real danger in touching this car?
