That's it, I've had enough. We now know about lead in toys. They say it was a mistake. We know about date rape drugs in toys, again they said it was a mistake.
But, there is no mistake on this one!
Last night I was putting up my Christmas tree. Being newly married, we bought a bunch of decorations after christmas LAST YEAR. As I started to get out our new sets of lights, I noticed a few warnings on the wires. I figured they were about fires, ect. Nope. (And, I usually don't read all the small print.)
The warning stated that there was lead in the coating that covers the electrical wires. It also stated that it could cause cancer, birth defects, or harm children. Wash your hands after handling! (I'll bet most catch that, right?)
It was only disclosed because California's laws are more strict than US laws on lead disclosure. Thanks, CA!
Then, I pulled out a lawn decoration. Yep, lead again!
Here's the troubling aspects:
- My wife was 6 months pregnant at the time. Thank god we bought these after Christmas and didn't handle them at all last year.
- This was disclosed LAST YEAR! Don't act surprised, assholes. You made the decision to buy these products and put them in your stores.
- This year, the media acts surprised that there's lead in Chinese goods.
- The retailer is buying Christmas lights that have disclosed lead content in the products. What the hell are they thinking?
- This would not have been disclosed under our federal laws, or any state other than CA. (This product line must have been headed to shelves in CA too, or it would have been hidden from the consumer.)
- They are probably junk anyway.
I'm fed up with all the crap that is available in our stores. Most food is processed shit that is terrible for you, toys are poisonous, and now christmas decorations come in 'leaded'.
Why do we accept this? To save a few bucks? We're killing ourselves.
For the record, the said retailer was Home Depot. And, the brand was Holiday Home Accents. Though, I don't expect much better from anyone else. But, if you want to send an email to Home Depot asking them to stop buying goods with disclosed lead content (especially that children will be handling), I would certainly be thankful.
Side Tracks
- And those foolish folks running for the R nomination think a gun is what I need to keep my family safe. Thanks, but I'd prefer the things that ARE in my house be safe, instead of preparing for war with the boogy-man. So, solid comsumer safety standards and good enforcement proceedures would be a great gift this year.
- You may think, "TheNumbersGuy is very protective." First, you are damned right! Second, if you saw her, you'd understand why!
Anyway, I've decided I'm just not going to buy goods from China anymore, and I'm going to make every effort to buy American -- though it's almost impossible anymore.