Fun With Warning Labels: Beware The Mickey Mouse Cancer Lamp
Reader Mike directs our attention to the above lamp. The warning label reads:
WARNING: This product contains a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer, or birth defects or other reproductive harm.
Perhaps this is why the lamp is on clearance?
Why does this seem like the beginning of a not-so-good horror movie? Oh my gosh, it's just like when the Brady Bunch went to Hawaii and they found that tiki thing and it gave them bad luck...
What do you think of warning labels like this? Would you risk purchasing the cancer lamp?
Mikey Tiki [Disney Outlet]
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Comments:
I've seen those warning labels on cheaply made touristy knick-knacks, and my thought is always, "It's not something I actually need, so why buy it?" Even if cancer would only occur, if I, say, ate it, I'd rather avoid those products.
Cancer, Smancer. I'm pretty sure that lamp is cursed.
That warning is on a lot of stuff these days. Pretty much any computer cable, in fact. What they don't tell you is that in order to come in contact with the harmful stuff, you'd have to strip the insulation jacket off, rub your hands all over the exposed contents, and lick your fingers.
There's probably lead in the cord. If all of our parents are now getting cancer from all of the things their parents did, the least we can do is put our kids through the same thing :-)
I think I'd avoid that lamp just based on the Nightmare Fuel its secreting...
everything in california has that warning on it. buildings, cigarettes, toys, nail polish, you name it.
I live in Georgia, so that lamp wont cause cancer here.
I used to work for a CA based corp. where all our imports came through CA. Almost everything contained that label except for bath and food products. I think it comes down to the fact that everything may cause cancer.
A couple of parents in my kid's soccer league have camp chairs they bring to games that have that warning on them.
They bought the chairs at Wal-Mart.
Not saying there's any connection...
Warning: posting here might cause cancer and/or birth defects
Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.
Nah, that's just California. If they don't pass some constricting law at least once a month they start getting antsy. But seriously, we don't know for sure what causes cancer, and California is only just a tad less nuts than the EU, so they put that warning on a host of items, including my exercise ball. (OMG my exercise ball is going to cause me cancer!!!! *runs around in circles*)
I used to live in California, and those labels are everywhere. It's some kind of state law that known cancer causing substances have to be labeled. There used to be a sign in the coffee area of our office that said the "area" contained a substance known to cause cancer.
Apparently it's from the cord, lots of cord insulation have that warning.
I've seen those warnings for years on just about everything - like extension cords and such.
WARNING - don't suck on that wire!
@HalOfBorg:
I think sucking on it would be ok. Now, chewing on it till you got to the wires, then continuing to chew it...not so much.
According to the State of California, electrical tape contains ingredients that can cause cancer. It looks like California just has some really solid laws relating to potential sources of harm. But just because something can cause cancer doesn't necessarily mean it will (ok, can live without the lamp, but life without electrical tape? yeah right.)
Why does Mickey look like he's presiding over a human sacrifice? Now that's creepy.
We got mugs at my job that came with this sticker on it saying something along the same lines, the state of california says this mug can cause cancer or whatever...
Then they send us a letter saying to "disregard it." LOL.
Oh okay, disregard the mug that's going to give you cancer!
I'm pretty sure the "reproductive harm" comes from the certainty of never getting laid when your significant other sees that creepy thing on your nightstand stealing your souls with its devil eyes.
You can (maybe could now) also buy bags of sand (yeah sand) from pottery barn back in 02 or so that had the same warning.
Mind you I saw these in.....Florida. We have sand here that doesn't cause cancer. And that sand wasn't cheap.
Maybe their materials have been polluted by smug.
I love how California is basically its own country now.
So very much a non-issue...California requires that label on ANYTHING that contains any hazardous materials, regardless of amount. Go take a look at the china dishware department of any department store out here, and you'll be terrified until you realize it's everywhere.
And getting a CA shipment sent to the wrong place is rather easy.
So this is actually a GOOD thing for us consumers.
@InfiniTrent: We're not our own country -- it's just that the rest of the US decided to be a 3rd World country. (Well, OK, maybe not Oregon).
It's only good for the consumers if the risk isn't blown out of proportion. There is most likely a small quantity of lead in an enclosed portion of the lamp, where some electrical connection was soldered. If that lead is exposed, then you have a bigger problem than lead poisoning (specifically, an electrocution hazard).
It has been a long-standing practice to use a lead/tin alloy for soldering of electronics (and other things). The newer ROHS standards eschew the practice, but at the risk of the tin forming "fingers" over time, shortening the life of the product.
Proposition 65
Although humorous, it's not at all uncommon - practically everything has to carry that label if it's to be sold in California, which defeats the purpose because you just become desensitized to it.
@Lo-Pan: The warning on the sand is most likely related to inhalation of small particles - which can lead to cancer similar to asbestos. Note, the sand without the warning label has the same issue, just that it can't be sold in california without the label.
I think that creepy smile is what causes cancer.
It only causes cancer in California. If you don't live there, you won't get cancer.
@Skiffer: Yeah, prop 65. Consumerist is 22 years too late to post this one. Aspirin is on the list with a special disclaimer.
It's a good idea, since it's about public information, not fear-mongering. Some people are even told by doctors that some things they take are simply not harmful, but anything is harmful in sufficient doses. That's why we have to listen to the 30 second spiel at the end of every pill ad, though why you'd stay for the first minute and a half is the reason this isn't always effective.
@Skiffer: Agreed. Even though I don't live in California, when I visit I am desensitized. In fact I laugh at them now.
Why just last night I fixed some lead flashing on my roof. It was 100% pure lead (or pretty close anyway). Probably thousands of times more dangerous than the lead content in a piece of lamp cord.
I've worked with pure mercury in the past. I've stripped lead paint. I have probably breathed asbestos. I used lead-based solder last week. Two months ago I breathed the air in Los Angeles. Two weeks ago I ate raw sushi and oysters. Six months ago I enjoyed steak tartare.
According to California I should now either be dead or have tumors the size of a small Toyota.
It's called Proposition 65. ANTHING that the State of California THINKS could cause cancer, must be labeled as possibly causing cancer.
@chrisjames: RE the pill ads, I miss the days where the TV or radio ad would refer you to a magazine ad where you could read all of the side effects...
And a question about side effects... have you actually listened to the lists of potential side effects? I remember at least one pill listing cold or flu as a side effect. For that to be so, wouldn't the pill actually have to have an active cold or flu virus in it?
In the time it takes to verify I'm going to post the truth, I get beat to it...
Like others here have said, it is a state law here in California. It is known as Proposition 65 and the cancer warnings are literally everywhere. I moved here from Chicago and I have to say, those warnings were a bit disconcerting at first. Quite literally every restaurant, grocery store, club, retail outlet, office building, whorehouse, and opium den you might wander into has a warning about some mystery substance that may cause cancer. The warnings are always vague usually referring to "a substance known to the state of California to cause cancer". I don't know what this substance is, but apparently it is absolutely everywhere. Either that, or California is stupid.
I realized this had reached the point of absurdity when I saw a sign at the entrance to a hotel lobby warning it contained materials that were known to cause cancer by the State of California.
These labels are so prevalent that they're useless; if everything is labeled, you can't derive any useful information from the presence of the label.
@AD8BC: Yeah, one listed "increased urge to gamble" as a side-effect. I considered taking the pill just to see if that was true.
@flowergirl: I was going to say the same thing. I moved to San Francisco from New York about a year ago and those signs are everywhere in CA. CA is a very strange place.
The least California could do is tell the rest of us.
California hates our freedom.