# Huffy bike cancer warning
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffy-bike-cancer-warning/450997
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [May 29, 2008, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffy-bike-cancer-warning/450997 "2008-05-29T10:56:27Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@mrburns80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrburns80)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2008, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffy-bike-cancer-warning/450997/1 "2008-05-29T10:56:27Z")
I just bought a Huffy bike, and as I was putting it together I saw the following warning packed with the instructions:
> [@](#):
>
> Warning: This product may contain a chemical or chemicals known to the state of California to be a carcinogen and cause birth defects or other reproductive harm
Google turns up almost nothing except vague suggestions that it might be benzene used to create plastics or lead paint or even that grease itself causes cancer.
So, what the hell am I supposed to do? I’m going to contact Huffy’s customer service later, but I am curious what you all have to say about this. If it’s one of those “only causes cancer if you eat the bicycle” things, then I’m not going to worry about it.
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### Author:  [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2008, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffy-bike-cancer-warning/450997/2 "2008-05-29T11:25:39Z")
to the point that they are meaningless. I don’t know specifically what would be in your bike, but it could very well be the grease, paint, chrome, plastic decals. I’m no expert, but I believe the law in California is so strict that any little bit of possible cancer causing chemical requires the notice.
Perhaps if you google, you can find similar (ridiculous?) cases of overlabeling.
Like I said, the label is so ubiquitous that it has lost its meaning.
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### Author:  [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2008, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffy-bike-cancer-warning/450997/3 "2008-05-29T11:26:43Z")
The state of Calfornia requires that label be put on any product (and any place of business) where you have even the remotest chance of coming into contact with even the most miniscule amount of a substance that someone in the world thinks causes cancer. I’d ignore it.
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### Author:  [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2008, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffy-bike-cancer-warning/450997/4 "2008-05-29T11:31:40Z")
A more appropriate warning would be “Warning, you’ve purchased a Huffy. Next time get a real bike” 😉
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### Author:  [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2008, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffy-bike-cancer-warning/450997/5 "2008-05-29T11:34:03Z")
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California\_Proposition\_65\_(1986)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_65_(1986))
It says
> [@](#):
>
> Nearly all businesses in the state post similar notices on their premises, even when they are unaware of any listed chemicals being present. Warning signs are always posted at gas stations, hardware suppliers,[2] grocery stores, drug stores, and medical facilities.[3] Most government agencies,[4] parking garages, apartment complexes,[5] retail stores,[6] banks, and restaurants[7] also post warning signs because of the possibility of hazardous chemicals being present in everyday items, such as a car or a computer, or because tobacco smoke from a passerby might drift in through an open window. Some large businesses, such as utility companies, mail a Prop 65 notice to all customers each year to warn them of dangerous substances like natural gas[8] or the sand used in sandblasting.[9]
>
> There is no penalty for posting an unnecessary warning sign. Because of the overuse of the vague warning, the ubiquitous signs ultimately communicate very little information to the end user.[10]
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### Author:  [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2008, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffy-bike-cancer-warning/450997/6 "2008-05-29T12:59:02Z")
Did your bike come with a flat repair kit?
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### Author:  [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2008, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffy-bike-cancer-warning/450997/7 "2008-05-29T13:14:59Z")
I saw those signs all over the place the last time I visited California, and figured it was one of those situations where it was easier to just put the sign where it wasn’t needed than run expensive tests to see whether or not there was a 0.000000000001 parts per million concentration of Cancerium in the area.
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### Author:  [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2008, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffy-bike-cancer-warning/450997/8 "2008-05-29T13:24:07Z")
[QUOTE=kferr]
A more appropriate warning would be “Warning, you’ve purchased a Huffy. Next time get a real bike” 😉
[/QUOTE]
I agree, but there’s no need to get all Huffy about it.
RR
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2008, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffy-bike-cancer-warning/450997/9 "2008-05-29T13:32:31Z")
I just noticed that label on two containers of quick-setting epoxy I picked up last weekend.
This seems like a perfect example of a law so broad as to be useless. My immediate reaction was “Well, no one else seems to think it’s dangerous” and use it anyway. Looking over the lst of chemicals, I find that it fails to distinguish between developmemntal risks and carcinogens (and so includes things like ethyl alcohol and carbon black) and that it contains chemicals shown to be carcingenic in animals but not shown to be so in humans (like ortho tolidine).
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### Author:  [@masterofnone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/masterofnone)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2008, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffy-bike-cancer-warning/450997/10 "2008-05-29T14:06:35Z")
California considers anything that does not pass the Ames test to be carcinogenic. Short version: In the Ames test, bacteria with a mutant gene are plated on a petri dish of media. The mutants will not grow on the media. A filter paper spot impregnated with the material to be tested is put on the plate. If the substance causes a back mutation, making the gene functional, the bacteria around the spot will grow. The test is meant to be a quick screen to see what chemicals should be looked at in more detail.
The problem with this test is bacteria /= human, and mutagenic is not necessarily = carcinogenic. Plenty of things fail the test and have not been shown to cause cancer, and some things that pass the test have been shown to cause cancer.
It’s a simple case of politicians not understanding the science behind the laws they pass.
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### Author:  [@benbo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/benbo1)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2008, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffy-bike-cancer-warning/450997/11 "2008-05-29T17:23:32Z")
I moved to L.A. 4 years ago. When I saw those signs while looking for an apartment, it was explained to me that even if the building had a closed carport (surrounded by walls all around), it required having the sign. My buidling has an open one (just a parking spot, no walls around), so no sign required. Apparently anything chemical (like carbon monoxide from car exhaust) requires this sign in Cali.
[QUOTE=masterofnone]
California considers anything that does not pass the Ames test to be carcinogenic. Short version: In the Ames test, bacteria with a mutant gene are plated on a petri dish of media. The mutants will not grow on the media. A filter paper spot impregnated with the material to be tested is put on the plate. If the substance causes a back mutation, making the gene functional, the bacteria around the spot will grow. The test is meant to be a quick screen to see what chemicals should be looked at in more detail.
The problem with this test is bacteria /= human, and mutagenic is not necessarily = carcinogenic. Plenty of things fail the test and have not been shown to cause cancer, and some things that pass the test have been shown to cause cancer.
It’s a simple case of politicians not understanding the science behind the laws they pass.
[/QUOTE]
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### Author:  [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2008, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffy-bike-cancer-warning/450997/12 "2008-05-29T17:48:42Z")
Huh, I always figured it was lead that was responsible, since this warning comes on every single piece of lead fishing tackle I’ve ever purchased.
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### Author:  [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2008, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffy-bike-cancer-warning/450997/13 "2008-05-29T17:54:24Z")
I have a bottle of hair setting lotion with a sticker on the bottle that says “Not lawful for sale in California” I don’t know what all is in it that makes it so. I just bring it up as further illustration that California may be overly strict/cautious in this regard.
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### Author:  [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2008, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffy-bike-cancer-warning/450997/14 "2008-05-29T18:23:28Z")
Those Prop 65 warnings bug me SOOO much. Either don’t have them, or force people to say WHAT chemicals that might be eating my face and giving me mutant kids. The current form is just burning money for NO appreciable benefit.
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### Author:  [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2008, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffy-bike-cancer-warning/450997/15 "2008-05-29T18:55:37Z")
But most of us aren’t in California, so any chemicals these products or places may contain should be harmless.
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### Author:  [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2008, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffy-bike-cancer-warning/450997/16 "2008-05-29T21:58:22Z")
The Partnership For A Drug-free America can give you several pages about the perils of Huffing. :dubious: 😉
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### Author:  [@HookerChemical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HookerChemical)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2008, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffy-bike-cancer-warning/450997/17 "2008-05-29T22:19:47Z")
Congratulations, this is the thread that causes me to stop lurking.
I work in the human health risk assessment field, and am reasonably knowledgeable about Prop 65. First, to answer the OP: Don’t worry about the bike, it’s probably nothing. Don’t eat your bike and you’ll be fine.
in general, Prop 65 warnings are nearly useless. They put them up all over here in Cali to cover the owner/operator’s asses. Like the Wiki says, it’s easier to put up the placard and scare off one in a million customers than to be the defendant in a huge Prop 65 lawsuit because a puff of tobacco smoke came in the window. It’s part of Prop 65 that needs to be revised to be useful or eliminated.
To clarify, there is a specific list of Prop 65 chemicals that require warnings, and there are safe harbor levels for those chemicals that do not require detection limits of 0.000000000001 parts per million. The list is linked off the page below in Excel and pdf format.
[http://www.oehha.org/prop65/prop65\_list/Newlist.html](http://www.oehha.org/prop65/prop65_list/Newlist.html)
[QUOTE=gwendee]
I have a bottle of hair setting lotion with a sticker on the bottle that says “Not lawful for sale in California” I don’t know what all is in it that makes it so. I just bring it up as further illustration that California may be overly strict/cautious in this regard.
[/QUOTE]
I doubt the lotion is a Prop 65 issue, but it’s possible. I’ve seen solvents and paints that weren’t allowable in California because of our strict limits on smog creating VOCs content in products.
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### Author:  [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2008, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffy-bike-cancer-warning/450997/18 "2008-05-29T22:42:43Z")
Here in Nebraska, I’ve seen boxes of mothballs that were labeled “Not for Sale in California”. So probably camphor causes cancer too.
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### Author:  [@HookerChemical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HookerChemical)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffy-bike-cancer-warning/450997/19 "2008-05-29T23:59:55Z")
[QUOTE=Satchmo]
Here in Nebraska, I’ve seen boxes of mothballs that were labeled “Not for Sale in California”. So probably camphor causes cancer too.
[/QUOTE]
They could be naphthalene, which California classifies as a carcinogen and was regularly used in moth balls.
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### Author:  [@mrburns80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrburns80)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2008, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffy-bike-cancer-warning/450997/20 "2008-05-30T00:05:34Z")
Ah, here we go, Huffy’s response verbatim and in its entirety:
> [@](#):
>
> California passed a law in 1986 known as “Proposition 65” stating that anything containing one of over seven hundred “known carcinogens” is required to bear the warning – regardless of quantity, or the chance that anyone might actually get sick. This warning has to be present on the packaging of any product sold in the state of California. As our products are sold worldwide, including California, this warning is placed on all of our packaging. The rubber handlebar grips on bicycles (not just Huffy products) contain PVC (poly-vinyl-chloride). PVC _may_ contain minute traces of lead. The amount is well below the legal limit and should pose no harm to you or your children.
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