Guest guest Posted December 28, 2007 Report Share Posted December 28, 2007 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. ________________________________________________________________________________\ ____ Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Search. http://tools.search./newsearch/category.php?category=shopping Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 28, 2007 Report Share Posted December 28, 2007 We had an official state lead tester come to the house with an isotope scanner. He found lead in the trains (90% of the trains we had were never recalled and have still NOT been recalled, despite the fact that they tested high in lead, particularly where the magnet attaches to the front of the train). He found lead in those four inch dye-cast Kinsmart model cars (the ones they sell at CVS which look like, say, PC Cruisers, cop cars, other models, etc.) and in some Hotwheels type cars but not in the Hotwheels cars themselves. The isotope can detect lead in paint and lead below the surface as well. I saved all the toys that tested high in lead. No one's doing class action suits about it yet but they will one day. What would the statute of limitations be for that? > > 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. > > > _____________________________________________________________________ _______________ > Looking for last minute shopping deals? > Find them fast with Search. http://tools.search./newsearch/category.php? category=shopping > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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