Lead Warning on Set #00825

[Riders HS]

Just wondering what exactly this warning pertains to...

"Warning:  Contains lead.  Maybe harmful if eaten or chewed.  May generate dust containing lead.  Keep out of the reach of children."

We are not certain as to what part of this train is lead, and how, in the course of running it, will it create lead dust?

The set was returned to us due to this warning.

Thank you,
Cheryl

[WoundedBear]

Seeing as how this is a steam set, I will venture to guess that the warning is for the little bag of crushed up coal that Bachmann usually supplies with their steamers. It is used to detail the tender coal load with. One would brush on a little white glue on the plastic coal "pile" in the tender then sprinkle the crushed coal on top. Once dry it is a very convincing look.

This is just a guess.

Solution: One.....don't worry about it.

              Two.....tell little Timmy not to eat the coal dust.

Personally I think government takes these warnings way too far.

Sid

[ebtnut]

I am pretty sure that the "coal load" is synthetic, not real coal.  More than likely, the lead is in the solder used to wire up the power leads (decoder, is equipped).  Unless you intend to disassemble the loco and unsolder/resolder the wires, don't be concerned. 

[Len]

The warning is there because of the rediculous Propostion 65 that was passed in California (of course) a while back. It basically says anything manufactureed or sold in California containing anything that has been shown to be remotely connected to causing cancer has to carry the warning. Even if the way it's being used causes that particular material to be completely inert.

The kicker is a section of Prop 65 that basically says even if something was manufactured outside of California, with no intent to sell it in California, if a third party brings whatever it is into California and sells it in a yard sale, the original manufacturer is subject to all of the penalties for noncompliance with Prop 65. And the person who finds this endangerment to California gets a cut of the penalty money. Which has actually created "bounty hunters" who go out looking for this stuff, and some smaller businesses outside of California being put out of business.

Personally, I think Prop 65 over reaches and is major interference with interstate commerace. But most businesses decided it was cheaper to just slap the labels on everything than to fight California's idiocy in court.

Len

[InsideTrack]

Be assured that all our products are safe to use and enjoy. There is no lead in the paint, and our products meet all US Federal safety standards. Illinois law (only) requires the warning, and their law does not distinguish between soluble and insoluble lead. If there is lead in the product, the warning is required. Many of our products contain brass (or other metals), and brass sometimes contains lead to improve its machinability. This lead is not soluble (except possibly by stomach acid). Our only recommendation is that you do not eat the train. We know that sounds ridiculous, and it is, but laws have unintended consequences. Again, our products are safe to use and enjoy.

Bachmann Trains

[Riders HS]

Thank you for the clarification on that.  It helps to know what is driving the warning to be there.

Cheryl

[Riders HS]

Thank you for the reply from Bachmann.

The specific part of the warning that was of concern was the following language.

"May generate dust containing lead."

The question was raised because a woman with young children returned a Bachmann train set because of that warning.  Where would lead dust come from, or is this an example of legal boiler plate wording that over states the case?  We need to be able to give honest and informed answers to customers when or if the question arises again.

Thank you.

Cheryl

[jward]

I do not know where lead dust would come from in a model train. that seems like boilerplate to me.

something to keep in mind is that solder is a lead/tin alloy, and it is widely used in electronics. anything with a printed circuit board would thus contain some lead. that means pretty much anything that uses any form of electricity would fall under this warning. do you stop using your cell phone because it contains lead? of course not. do you stop buying your child battery operated toys because they contain lead? model trains are no different than that.

[jbrock27]

I agree with those who find these warnings to be rather silly.  If I am not mistaken, I believe bottled water in CA also carries the same warning

[jward]

I agree with those who find these warnings to be rather silly.  If I am not mistaken, I believe bottled water in CA also carries the same warning

those bottles contain dihydrogen monoxide which has been known to corrode metals and suffocate people among other hazards.

[Ken G Price]

I agree with those who find these warnings to be rather silly.  If I am not mistaken, I believe bottled water in CA also carries the same warning

those bottles contain dihydrogen monoxide which has been known to corrode metals and suffocate people among other hazards.

As the vast majority of people never read the instruction, labels and warnings that come with items, they miss that almost all products, have same kind of warning that keeps the manufacture/distributor/seller, from being sued due to some thing going wrong if later on after more hits the lens cracks.
Such as high quality paintball goggle systems, that say the lens needs to be changed if hit with even one paintball.

[jbrock27]

I agree with those who find these warnings to be rather silly.  If I am not mistaken, I believe bottled water in CA also carries the same warning

those bottles contain dihydrogen monoxide which has been known to corrode metals and suffocate people among other hazards.

Are you being serious or joking?  It can be very difficult to tell at times.  So you are saying in bottled water there is, dihydrogen monoxide put there, for people to drink?

[WoundedBear]

I think it's just a little gullibility Jim. 

Read here..............

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihydrogen_monoxide_hoax

Sid

[jbrock27]

Must be a Pittsburgh area sense of humor thing

...or perhaps too early for me to be thinking in chemistry terms: H2O, Ha Ha Ha, LOL! 

I'm a dense one.  Where I come from, we never referred to it as dihydrogen monoxide.  Clever.

[Jhanecker2]

Common sense is truly  one of the rarest commodities  on this planet  .   P.T.Barnum  was right  ,   he was amazingly  off  about the number per minute . John 2
P.S.:   Is anybody  enjoying the snow fall  ?  Got about  8 inches plus in some areas of the property  and it is still coming down.  Wish  I owned a snow-mobile . Eventually  I may have to fire up the snow-thrower to rearrange the snow pack  but it does  look  kind of pretty .  Have a good weekend  All .