Lead in our cords?

[Jacobp]

recently I did a change of vaping spots.
so I moved all my electronics,right? I got to a extension cord i used for my iPad charger ,was stoned so decided to read that little label that's on the end.it read caution this cord contains lead and other chemicals know to cause cancer in the state of California please wash hands after handling!
I thought are you fucken serious? did some research seems quite a bit of power cords have trace amounts of lead and I can't find out if our vaporizers are an exception to this or how about or growing equipment I mean what is wrong with people? Lead?seriously there's no other option then a hazardous material to prevent cracking?please if anyone has any info on whether these cords are one in the same post!we need to know.

 

[Buildozer]

recently I did a change of vaping spots.
so I moved all my electronics,right? I got to a extension cord i used for my iPad charger ,was stoned so decided to read that little label that's on the end.it read caution this cord contains lead and other chemicals know to cause cancer in the state of California please wash hands after handling!
I thought are you fucken serious? did some research seems quite a bit of power cords have trace amounts of lead and I can't find out if our vaporizers are an exception to this or how about or growing equipment I mean what is wrong with people? Lead?seriously there's no other option then a hazardous material to prevent cracking?please if anyone has any info on whether these cords are one in the same post!we need to know.

IME If you read all the labels on the products you buy, I think you'll see that label pops up quite regularly on all kinds of non-consumables.. I don't see anything to worry about, considering that we're not breathing through these cables, and they tend to be away from the heat.. If it's a concern, the best you can do is try and find some RoHS compliant stuff, but from what I can tell, a lot of practical things often don't seem to meet those qualifications.

 

[sixstringsmash]

Well I guess it's official I have to stop chewing on my cables now.

 

[Jacobp]

I didn't mean there Being chewed or inhaled ,but say I touch my cord in my ssv or grow light or fan cords,ballast,Christmas lights,camera,computer etc..like I and you often do,then without thinking or knowing go touching my meds,plants,food or anything basically after handling them that I'm adding unnecessary lead into my environment and or myself I think it's absurd!
lead is a neurotoxin and is quite dangerous if it builds up.and even though lead is probably in micrograms in these things it's ridiculous for them to even be thought of to be put into a product in 2016 I mean come on.its probably just my ocd or whatever to each there own seems the things I worry about never comes to others minds or just is shrugged off.

 

[chris 71]

i do drywall . sometimes we do dentist or radiology clinics . there is lead sheets attached to the back of the drywall . used to be on a roll that we would have to roll out onto back side of the drywall . now a days it comes preglued on to the back of the sheets . there is also little lead bits that have to be glued over every screw in every piece of drywall . sometimes there is even lead smudges on the front side of the sheet kinda like if someone colored the fronts of the sheets with huge pencil lead from sitting on top of each other . we handle these sheets and sand the finished drywall with the lead smudges all over them . i have often wondered and worried about safety and rules for working with this crap . but cant seem to find much googling for info . and nobody seems to really say anything about safe handling . our job sites are legit and safety inspectors sometimes show up on the job . but i have never been told of any special handling requirements . its either do the job or they get somebody eles .

 

[Tranquility]

I didn't mean there Being chewed or inhaled ,but say I touch my cord in my ssv or grow light or fan cords,ballast,Christmas lights,camera,computer etc..like I and you often do,then without thinking or knowing go touching my meds,plants,food or anything basically after handling them that I'm adding unnecessary lead into my environment and or myself I think it's absurd!
lead is a neurotoxin and is quite dangerous if it builds up.and even though lead is probably in micrograms in these things it's ridiculous for them to even be thought of to be put into a product in 2016 I mean come on.its probably just my ocd or whatever to each there own seems the things I worry about never comes to others minds or just is shrugged off.

I think @sixstringsmash point was that lead is not free in the touching of the cord.

Most lead in electronics will usually be from solder in connecting parts.

The stupid California warning is because of a stupid California law that was a stupid idea. Every building you walk in either has one of the nonsense warnings or should have one by strict reading of the law. Lead can be an issue. Don't eat paint chips. Don't chew or inhale your power cord.

 

[Havelock Vetenari]

To paraphrase Paracelsus :

 

[Prolusio]

I can't say whether lead might be in your specific electronic device but I suspect that if it was purchased from a store in the US or Europe it is unlikely that the cord or plastic itself contains a significant amount of lead. Or any.

Europe particularly passed a bunch of laws in early 2000's restricting the use of lead in consumer electronics; if your device is compliant you should be ok.

I am an electrician and in my apprentice days I actually worked in a cable production factory where they make wire; we did not have lead in any of our cables as far as I know. I'm pretty sure we produced flexible SVT cords just like that found on the SSV or other small devices; I am fairly confident that these products did not contain any lead.

We shipped in tons of pure plastic pellets which we melted before extruding over 1000's of KM of all sizes of copper and aluminium wire to form the insulated cables you find everywhere. We had a lab testing the purity of the pellets because any additives totally messed up our extrusion temps and would build up in the extrusion tubes causing gouges or imperfections. The only thing going into the insulation of the wires was the type of plastic they were meant to have.

The only "additives" to the wire that I saw were powders to prevent moisture or paper/string wrapped around the cables. For various reasons depending on the purpose of the wire. I can't really think of a reason to purposely add lead to wire, other than possibly blocking signal interference in communication cables. The current ones that I know of all use other non-toxic materials though and I'm not sure lead was ever used this way.

The goal of making a good cable is to have each "layer" if you will of the cable to be as pure as possible. If lead or another conductive impurity got it's way into the insulation this would compromise the resistance value of the wire/cable. I know for a fact our factory would have scrapped the whole batch if any specs on the product didn't match up to regulations.

We had a room where we would load reels of wire up with as much juice as they could handle before exploding in glorious ball of fire and lighting.. I think if any of our reels had conductive lead in them they would have made quite the show!

Lead solder is also becoming less common in consumer electronics, even plumbers are no longer allowed to use lead solder on pipe joints.

I see that california warning label on all sorts of things; I think if even one part of your device has lead in even the production process they will place that label.

I think typically lead would only be found in the connections of a circuit board, maybe not even then, which you probably aren't handling on a regular basis and might even be covered with some kind of coating to protect from moisture.

Just my though! All bets are off if it's from an unreliable supplier.

 

[max]

Most power cords have a small amount of lead. It helps with flexibility. You can't absorb lead through the skin, even if it were to leach out -highly unlikely unless it's crumbling from age, in which case you'd be foolish to use it for electrical safety sake. This just isn't a concern.

 

[Prolusio]

Most power cords have a small amount of lead. It helps with flexibility.

We used phthalates to help with flexibility in our PVC material, not lead. I don't think any of the phthalates we used would be any safer than lead for human consumption though! Probably even be easier to absorb!

I know there have been many recent studies examining the effects/absorption rates of phthalates due to growing concerns over their long term effects. But like @max says I don't think your power cord is a big concern. Phthalates are found in everything from flooring to erasers so you'll have a much harder time avoiding them than just your power cables.

If it's lead you're most worried about I'd be thinking about checking water quality; much easier to take an unhealthy amount of lead through ingestion and the problem is becoming more common.

I really should test my water..

 

[Hippie Dickie]

much easier to take an unhealthy amount of lead through ingestion

found an article about color of plastic insulation on the wire:

During a July 1992 follow-up clinic visit, he mentioned that for approximately 20 years he had habitually chewed on the plastic insulation that he stripped off the ends of electrical wires. Samples of the copper wire with white, blue, and yellow plastic insulation were obtained and analyzed for lead content. The clear plastic outer coating (present on all colors of wire) and the copper wire contained no lead; however, the colored coatings contained 10,000-39,000 ug of lead per gram of coating. *** On receipt of these results, he was instructed immediately to discontinue chewing the wire coating.

 

[Prolusio]

Oh geez what a way to get lead poisoning! I will note that was well before the new regulations around lead reduction though. That sure is a lot of lead! Per gram? Must have been some nasty pigments haha. I'm sure there are wires out there in the world containing all sorts of things; just saying from my experience in North American wire production we did not include lead.

 

[Baron23]

Well, we are each responsible to ourselves for our health and therefore we each are responsible for determining the level of exposure and risk to toxic elements that we are willing to tolerate. All good, to each their own, right?

However, for me personally....and only for me....worrying about trace amounts of lead in an insulated power cord goes way over the line and seems just a bit neurotic (which I'm an expert on as I have a LOT of neurosis LOL).

I'm a clay target shooter, sometimes waterfowl hunter. Yes, we use lead shot for targets. I reload shot shells with lead target shot. I wash my hands after handling lead just as I would if I had grease on my hands from automotive work or the like. If you don't eat it, you're going to be ok.

Now, on shotgun ranges there is a legitimate concern about lead leaching into the water supply. So, modern environmental stewardship standards has us testing the Ph of the ground regularly insofar as if the ground is not acidic, then the lead will lay there inert for ever. We have even gone so far as to have labs come out and take samples of grass, earthworms, etc and test for lead uptake.

However, we do run into a lot of ill informed hysteria on the subject of lead and its always been my thought that I wonder where many of these folks think lead came from in the first place. IT CAME OUT OF THE GROUND! Its lead, not Kryptonite and its is naturally occurring element that if not ingested (eaten in or breathed in fumes) will not harm you.

Yes, refined lead must be managed, but its not the radically dangerous substance its often made out to be.