I can see it already: "Crap, the power's out. Now, where did I put those ANSI-approved safety goggles? I need them before I can turn on my flashlight, which is slowly poisoning me while I simply hold it."

A 1 watt LED is pretty friggin bright, just don't point it at your eyeballs.

I've been gnawing on flashlights for years now. I never considered that the delicious bits of paint that chip off could have lead in it.

Wait, are all LED flashlights this dangerous? Or is it just this one?

@TCama: I would imagine that, like every other product out there...

folks, obviously, this is no more or less dangerous then any other flashlight. What's happening here is a company that's slapping this boilerplate warning label on products that don't really need it because, well, a superflous warning just gets you mocked on Consumerist, whereas a missing warning when you DO need it...

@TCama: All LEaD flashlights are dangerous.

Those are just crazy California laws.

known in the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects and other reproductive harm.

California knows something that the other 49 states don't know? What are the odds of that?

@HiPwr: HA!

Always by your flashlights from Mag Lite. They are made in America.

I suspect that they point the warning text from some other product they make (like a saw or something) on to the flashlight package. Or maybe they use the same warning for all their products and some legitimately require safety glasses.

As far as the cancer warning, that's a law peculiar to California. This warning appears on everything you don't eat in the state of California. If the flashlight has mercury in the light bulb, it triggers the warning requirement.

Of course, the signs are common enough to be completely ignored by everybody.

@Skankingmike: Yep, the lead warning appears on lots of fishing equipment, even stuff like plastic worms that obviously don't have any lead. If the company manufactures or packages one single lead weight as part of its product line, the warning is put on everything.

This must be a California thing, because awhile back I bought a mug from a company that included a little sheet of paper that informed me that materials used in the making of said mug would kill me in various awful ways. I imagine that it was probably the glazing on the outside of the mug that was the problem, and not the coating on the inside where the beverages go. I wrote back to the company requesting that they send me a less-lethal mug, but never heard back from them. You'll all be immensely relieved to know that I have been using the mug for years with no pesky side effects, such as death.

@Ssscorpion: It only causes cancer in California. Anywhere else, you're safe.

@Ssscorpion:

I guess they try and make up for the fact that they can't handle money.

@I Love New Jersey:

I love me some Mag Lites :)

Last year I bought a LED flashlight from Amazon. When I opened the clamshell packaging it had a VERY strong chemical odor. When we held the flashlight it irritated our hands. There was something very wrong with that thing. I sent it back and shortly afterward I noticed they were no longer selling it.

@GinevraCypselus: I think people got that. Sense of humor, you need one.

Also, it's still dumb as hell, considering:

"And they didn't even enclose any operating instructions."

But, wait!

"the user should read the operating instructions to understand everything about this product."

I bet they wrote the operating instructions in invisible ink.

"The goggles! They do nothing!"

@I Love New Jersey: SureFire ([www.surefire.com]) makes a damn fine American flashlight, too.

@Brian James Schend: I saw the article title and immediately assumed it was something from California, even before seeing the picture :p

Wonder how they managed to exempt food, I'm sure dust and other microscopic particles known to the state of California to cause cancer is in most of it :D

@bishophicks: WIN.

@I Love New Jersey: Streamlight ([www.streamlight.com]) too. Both Streamlight and SureFire are more pricey than Mag Lite, but are noticeably superior.

@HiPwr: That explains a lot. ;)

@TCama: If it's made in China, which probably 95% of them are, then there's probably a good chance that it has something in it that's harmful to you. Don't worry though, at least you won't have to worry about buying birth control anymore.

@HiPwr: Right, but do they make a 3 foot long model? That's the important thing.

@bishophicks:

I will take a wild guess and bet that this is from Harbor Freight. Everything they sell has this standard warning on it. I'm guessing the terminals on the battery leads have brass, which contains lead. I bought a shoe horn from Harbor Freight that had this exact same warning on it about the ANSI goggles. I bet even their goggle have this warning on them.

@I Love New Jersey: Mag-Lite is the Monster Cable of the flashlight industry. Read the company history on their web site some time. Most of their major accomplishments happened in the courtroom, not the research laboratory.

I ordered an LED flashlight, not a LEAD one!

That's because in the nanny state that is the People's Democratic Republic of California, they have to include that warning because if you use the flashlight to go poking around dark, dirty, industrial areas, there is a possibility you may encounter hazardous materials.

That warning is to protect them from lawsuits from the PDRC and the public suing them because they encountered hazardous substances while using the flashlight. If they include the warning with the flashlight, they are absolved of responsibility if you use the product correctly but in the wrong place.

@mindshadow: No, but they make tiny little flashlights that are so bright I'm pretty sure they can be seen from the moon.

This flashlight probably does contain lead. The wires connecting the LED to the switch and battery terminals have probably been soldered. Which is probably the source of lead. OMG, let's put a label on it so Californians don't gnaw at the innards of the flashlight.

I'm sure about any consumer electronics or electrical product would contain a similar wording in CA.

@SafetyMachete_GitEmSteveDave: And they copy their operators manuals from the products that they copied their design from too.

Harbor Freight seems to slap this same generic warning on all the items they sell...even if they obviously are not dangerous items.

@S-the-K: lol wow.

led's are a concentrated light source A 1 watt light would be very bright (handheld lasers are restricted to 5w in US)being a concentrated light source their may be a possibility of eye damage if pointed towards the eyes?
As for the lead we are dealing with China, so anything is possible.

"Warning - Do not stare into Lasers or LED flashlights with remaining eye."

It's about proposition 65. [consumerist.com]

Harbor Freight has warnings on everything!!!! Of course they do this so when your whatever breaks and melts off half your face.....they said wear ANSI stuff can't sue 'em.

And not for all the money in the world would I put myself under jack/safety stands from Harbor Freight. I don't care how cheap I am, or how heavy duty 10 ton blah blah they are. I've noticed that section is always stocked, and the boxes have mucho dust on them. I hope other people agree with me.

I wouldn't even give them to my enemies.

@GinevraCypselus: ... never gets read or taken seriously.

@Canino: I have a coat that says it has lead on it...

I actually own this particular flashlight. Or at least the flashlight that this one appears to be a copy of (tooluxe?).

It is a Fenix and it is really really really bright. Beats the living sh*t out of a similiarly sized maglight. But, then again, that is not that hard. Maglights are crap.

@Skankingmike: Does it have the little metal weights in the hem? Maybe they're not hallucinating.

@Ssscorpion: No, California's just the only state that requires companies to admit that their products cause cancer.

"...do not taunt Killer Flashlight"

I can use this to inspect the damage done by my Chinese drywall.