Re: lead in diecast- Maurine

[Guest guest]

Could you email me with the name of the lawyer, the lawfirm or

anything you remember about the firm?

> >

> > I had an interesting conversation yesterday with a

> > consumer hotline person at Mattel (makers of Barbie,

> > owner of Hot Wheels and Matchbox, king of toys).

> >

> > Specifically, I called to get the metallury info about

> > Hot Wheels. They are all at least 50% metal (die

> > cast) with some of the more expensive being close to

> > 100%. I know they are not made of ferrous metals

> > (iron, steel, nickel) as they are non-magnetic. I

> > know they are not made of brass or bronze. I know

> > they are not made of copper, silver, gold, platinum or

> > tungsten, or they couldn't sell the damn things for

> > $1. They are relatively heavy, so I am guessing they

> > are not aluminum or tin, and and they are not zinc, as

> > they do not have the look (I work with galvanized

> > materials). The list of possible metals grows short.

> > I think they are made of an amalgam or alloy and

> > suspect they have a large lead content.

> >

> > A little background... My boy tested relatively high

> > for lead way back in '99. As part of the home testing

> > that occurs in the aftermath of this (the local health

> > dept. MUST identify the source by law), I flaked some

> > paint of a Hot Wheel, specifically the black prison

> > bus (HW #72) which ran from '95 to '98.

> >

> > http://www.southtexasdiecast.com/hwguide/images/000/72b.jpg

> >

> > We had more than a dozen of these cars, because

> > everytine we were in a store and there was one on

> > display, my boy " had " to have it. (I am sure the good

> > people here will understand that when picking your

> > battles, spending a dollar to appease an autistic

> > child is getting off cheap and easy, even if it occurs

> > on a regular basis). And this toy spent more than a

> > little time being fondled, carried, and occasionally

> > mouthed.

> >

> > When the testing for the house came back, the paint in

> > the living areas was clean, the paint in odd recesses

> > showed lead (ppm), the water tested clean, the tub

> > tested clean, the dirt in the back yard tested high

> > (parts per ten thousand) and the paint that came off

> > that damned bus came back at 2% (ues, that is parts

> > per hundred). WTF???

> >

> > I cannot believe that the paint itself was so high in

> > lead. Bridge paint which STILL contains lead is no

> > more than parts per million, so the only explanation

> > that makes sense is the car itself is made of a lead

> > amalgam/alloy and when I used my pocket knife to flake

> > paint for testing a small bit of the metal went with

> > it.

> >

> > Getting back to my call to Mattel...

> >

> > The young lady whom I talked to was unable to find the

> > answer in the information the company readily

> > provides, and simply stated that their toys comply

> > with US law. I said that the law concerned the lead

> > content of paint and not the metal itself (do not know

> > whether that was a true statement or not). She put me

> > on hold to ask someone with more brass on their lapel.

> >

> > After a few minutes she was back and repeated the bit

> > about complaince and then told me that the metal

> > content was " proprietory " . I asked why that was and

> > she replied that if they told me I might decide to

> > start making Hot Wheels myself. I replied that if I

> > had the capacity to compete with Hot Wheels I would be

> > fully capable of determining the metal content without

> > asking Mattel. She agreed that was probably true.

> >

> > She asked why I wanted to know, and I told her that I

> > was concerned about lead in toys with all the recent

> > recalls, and that I noticed that Hot Wheels were not

> > ferrous, etc. (I did not tell her that I have an

> > autistic child who had dangerously high lead, in part

> > from this otherwise delightful product). I ran

> > through the list of what they weren't and said that

> > doesn't leave much besides lead. She replied " Oh God,

> > I hope not " .

> >

> > She took my name, a phone number, etc. and said she

> > would apss it up the line and someone would get back

> > to me. Hopefully it won't be a visit by a couple of

> > goons with broken noses and long coats.

> >

> > I believe I will find someone who is able to determine

> > the metallurgy of these little gems and see what they

> > can tell me. Should anyone else on the list decide to

> > do something similar, please let us all know exactly

> > what it is you find out.

> >

> >

> >

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