I had an “oh shit” moment last night but thankfully was relieved to find out it was a false scare.  Last week we decided to get some additional lights to put on our bushes outdoors for the holiday season and I quickly scanned the shelves of boxes at Kroger and took one that looked like it would do the trick.  I promised Ally she would be able to help me hang the lights when we were ready to this week.

Last night I was looking at the box on the counter and noticed the following scary statement.

Warning: Handling the cord on this product will expose you to lead, a chemical known to the state of California to cause cancer, and birth defects or other reproductive harm.  Wash hands after handling.

Below that was the standard 'Made in China' notation, of course.  Here I was about to let my daughter help me in a Christmas tradition and I might as well dip her in a vat of plutonium.  It’s the gift that keeps on giving.  It seems as of late that China stands for Creating Hazardous Items for North America.

After much consternation and some internet searching, it appears that this is not out of the ordinary.  Lead is used as a coating under the plastic as an insulator and is required by Underwriters Laboratory.  It IS recommended you wash your hands after touching them.  Regardless, I don’t know if I even want to open the box now even though I’m sure the traces of lead exposure are miniscule.  Heck, we grew up with lead in our paint and lead in our gas so I guess a little light strand won’t kill me but it sure taints the fun of putting up Christmas lights.

While some might argue against government intervention, I think a regulation like this that California has enforced is a good thing for the general populace.  At the very least it’s nice to be informed of a potential danger.

Here is the Box O' Lead disguised as a cheerful holiday product.  Tomorrow I'm going to buy some easily breakable mercury thermometers for the girls to play with.