# Chemicals in this product have been known to cause cancer...
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemicals-in-this-product-have-been-known-to-cause-cancer/463967
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [September 17, 2008, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemicals-in-this-product-have-been-known-to-cause-cancer/463967 "2008-09-17T10:41:27Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@BaconAndEggs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaconAndEggs)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2008, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemicals-in-this-product-have-been-known-to-cause-cancer/463967/1 "2008-09-17T10:41:27Z")
I bought a plastic pumpkin at Target last night and it it had a disclaimer on it. The sicker read “chemicals in this procuct have been known to cause cancer, birth defects, and reproductive harm. Wash hands after handling.” I washed my hands very thoroughly because I don’t need any reproductive harm. What is on the pumpkin? I’ve seen these signs in resturants and at Disneyland too. What chemical(s) are in this stuff and should I be really worried about this? When did they start making business and products post these warnings?
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### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2008, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemicals-in-this-product-have-been-known-to-cause-cancer/463967/2 "2008-09-17T13:48:39Z")
It’s mostly bullshit and you can blame it on California. Any product which might be sold in CA has to carry this warning if it contains certain cehemicals, even if the amounts are insignificant or there’s virtually no chance of coming into contact with them. If you actually go to California, you’ll see this warning posted almost everywhere; even lightbulbs carry it, due to the lead solder used on the bases.
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### Author:  [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2008, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemicals-in-this-product-have-been-known-to-cause-cancer/463967/3 "2008-09-17T13:55:49Z")
Many plastics contain Bisphenol A, which some scientists feel is a problem. In a study that NPR was discussing this very morning, people with high levels of Bisphenol A in their urine were much more likely to have certain medical problems when compared to people with low amounts in their urine. I can’t find today’s story, but here is one from a year ago: [Is a Chemical in Plastic Bottles a Hazard to Humans? : NPR](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12640440)
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### Author:  [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2008, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemicals-in-this-product-have-been-known-to-cause-cancer/463967/4 "2008-09-17T14:37:26Z")
> [@vetbridge](#):
>
> Many plastics contain Bisphenol A, which some scientists feel is a problem. In a study that NPR was discussing this very morning, people with high levels of Bisphenol A in their urine were much more likely to have certain medical problems when compared to people with low amounts in their urine. I can’t find today’s story, but here is one from a year ago: [Is a Chemical in Plastic Bottles a Hazard to Humans? : NPR](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12640440)
Hey, maybe Bisphenol A is actually a preventative medicine against those conditions, and people with high amounts in their urine are excreting a valuable chemical!
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### Author:  [@nd\_n8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nd_n8)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2008, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemicals-in-this-product-have-been-known-to-cause-cancer/463967/5 "2008-09-17T15:01:53Z")
Hey, what people in California do with plastic pumpkins to cause themselves reproductive harm is none of my business. Live and let live I say.
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### Author:  [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2008, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemicals-in-this-product-have-been-known-to-cause-cancer/463967/6 "2008-09-17T15:14:57Z")
> [@Ludovic](#):
>
> Hey, maybe Bisphenol A is actually a preventative medicine against those conditions, and people with high amounts in their urine are excreting a valuable chemical!
hehe. I found the story, and it is diabetes and heart disease that they were discussing. Here ya go:
[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94699105](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94699105)
From the link:
> [@](#):
>
> The study, appearing in this week’s Journal of the American Medical Association, finds that adults with the highest levels of BPA in their urine were more than twice as likely to report having diabetes or heart disease — compared with adults with the lowest levels of the chemical in their urine.
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### Author:  [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2008, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemicals-in-this-product-have-been-known-to-cause-cancer/463967/7 "2008-09-17T18:18:42Z")
> [@nd\_n8](#):
>
> Hey, what people in California do with plastic pumpkins to cause themselves reproductive harm is none of my business. Live and let live I say.
I think if they made the eye holes bigger then there would be less “reproductive harm” going on.
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### Author:  [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemicals-in-this-product-have-been-known-to-cause-cancer/463967/8 "2008-09-17T18:21:45Z")
> [@Q.E.D](#):
>
> It’s mostly bullshit and you can blame it on California. Any product which might be sold in CA has to carry this warning if it contains certain cehemicals, even if the amounts are insignificant or there’s virtually no chance of coming into contact with them. If you actually go to California, you’ll see this warning posted almost everywhere; even lightbulbs carry it, due to the lead solder used on the bases.
Yep, the prop 65 warning. It’s freaking everywhere.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2008, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemicals-in-this-product-have-been-known-to-cause-cancer/463967/9 "2008-09-17T19:55:46Z")
The last time we had a thread on those warnings, it was pointed out that the law provides very strict penalties for anything that contains a listed substance without a warning, but no penalty at all for putting the warning on something that doesn’t actually contain any listed substance. So there’s a very strong incentive to just slap the warning on everything you sell, without actually doing any testing on it.