# KVM switches and Proposition 65 Warnings
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kvm-switches-and-proposition-65-warnings/811172
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 25, 2018, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kvm-switches-and-proposition-65-warnings/811172 "2018-03-25T21:01:43Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@edwardcoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwardcoast)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2018, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kvm-switches-and-proposition-65-warnings/811172/1 "2018-03-25T21:01:43Z")
I’m looking for a 2 port HDMI switch. I’m looking at the KVM HDMI switches on [newegg.com](http://newegg.com) and all the ones I looked at have a Proposition 65 Warning which states:
WARNING: This product can expose you to chemicals including one or more listed chemicals which are known to the State of California to cause cancer or birth defects or other reproductive harm. For more information, go to [www.P65Warnings.ca.gov](http://www.P65Warnings.ca.gov)
Here is one of the products I’m looking at which has this warning:
> **[IOGEAR GCS62HU 2-Port HD Cable KVM Switch with Audio - Newegg.com](https://www.newegg.com/iogear-gcs62hu-hdmi/p/N82E16817399101?cm_re=kvm_hdmi-_-17-399-101-_-Product)**
>
> Buy IOGEAR GCS62HU 2-Port HD Cable KVM Switch with Audio with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!
I’m totally confused by this. What chemical are they referring to? Why would any US company sell a product which has to have this sort of warning?
---
### Author:  [@Cleophus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cleophus)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2018, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kvm-switches-and-proposition-65-warnings/811172/2 "2018-03-25T21:05:32Z")
It’s a California thing. The product is not hazardous. CA Proposition 65 requires a warning whenever specifically defined chemicals are present, but doesn’t specify an exposure level. There is liability for omitting it, but there is no penalty for unnecessarily including it. Manufacturers thus add the warning as an ass-covering measure regardless of actual risk.
The chemical the manufacturer probably has in mind is the lead solder on the electronics, encased in the device.
---
### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2018, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kvm-switches-and-proposition-65-warnings/811172/3 "2018-03-25T21:28:55Z")
I don’t think any mass-produced devices use lead solder anymore. It’s probably something else like electrolyte goo in capacitors.
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### Author:  [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2018, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kvm-switches-and-proposition-65-warnings/811172/4 "2018-03-25T21:31:20Z")
I wouldn’t worry about it. Every single parking garage in CA has the same warning because of car exhaust, which you can’t avoid even if you never use parking garages. I’m not against regulations but this is truly overboard.
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### Author:  [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2018, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kvm-switches-and-proposition-65-warnings/811172/5 "2018-03-25T21:46:19Z")
[This is a real sign at Disneyland in California.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/Disneyland_Prop_65_Warning_crop.jpg)
Prop 65 is the poster child for why law-making by referendum is a bad idea.
Prop 65 also has a “private prosecution” clause: Any California resident can sue a company for statutory damages even if the resident has suffered no personal damages. After Prop 65 passed, a whole bunch of law firms went into the “bounty hunter” business, suing businesses right and left for failure to post Prop 65 warning signs. This means Prop 65 warnings are [ubiquitous](http://www.earthpaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/prop65sign-300x200.jpg) in California and just kind of blend into the background noise.
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### Author:  [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2018, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kvm-switches-and-proposition-65-warnings/811172/6 "2018-03-26T00:05:18Z")
It means: _Don’t eat your KVM Switch._
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### Author:  [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2018, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kvm-switches-and-proposition-65-warnings/811172/7 "2018-03-26T00:58:46Z")
As others have said: this warning is attached in some way to seemingly every man-made object, structure or material in California. Including, for example, coffee. Because brewing coffee produces extremely small amounts of chemicals which are, technically, carcinogenic.
> **[PROPOSITION 65](https://www.barefootcoffee.com/pages/prop-65)**
>
> PROPOSITION 65 WARNING Chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and reproductive toxicity, including acrylamide, are present in coffee. Acrylamide is not added to our products, but results from cooking such as when coffee beans are...
Just ignore it and keep this in mind the next time you get into an argument about government regulation.
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### Author:  [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2018, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kvm-switches-and-proposition-65-warnings/811172/8 "2018-03-26T01:34:28Z")
We have similar warnings round here about asbestos … that is, obviously asbestos is a dangerous substance that you have to be very careful of, but the warnings don’t actually provide any useful information whatsoever.
There is a “this structure may contain asbestos” warning on my youngest’s school right now, which I understand from the office staff means “well, we have no particular knowledge of where the asbestos might be, but the school was build before 1970, so…”
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### Author:  [@edwardcoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwardcoast)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2018, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kvm-switches-and-proposition-65-warnings/811172/9 "2018-03-26T03:04:26Z")
If the warning was on every electronic product that [newegg.com](http://newegg.com) was selling, we might be able to determine the pattern, for example saying it has copper wire in it, but I looked at a computer monitor and laptop, and don’t see the warnings there. So it isn’t all electronic devices. It is puzzling, what is so different in a KVM HDMI switch that someone decided it needs one? Yet there is no information about it.
If I own a company producing a product for consumer sale, I’d work to make sure our product was compliant so it didn’t need that warning.
I’m not a hardware guy, but I can’t think of what could be in a KVM HDMI switch that isn’t also in a computer monitor or laptop.
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### Author:  [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2018, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kvm-switches-and-proposition-65-warnings/811172/10 "2018-03-26T03:13:15Z")
> [@edwardcoast](#):
>
> If the warning was on every electronic product that [newegg.com](http://newegg.com) was selling, we might be able to determine the pattern, for example saying it has copper wire in it, but I looked at a computer monitor and laptop, and don’t see the warnings there. So it isn’t all electronic devices. It is puzzling, what is so different in a KVM HDMI switch that someone decided it needs one? Yet there is no information about it.
>
> If I own a company producing a product for consumer sale, I’d work to make sure our product was compliant so it didn’t need that warning.
>
> I’m not a hardware guy, but I can’t think of what could be in a KVM HDMI switch that isn’t also in a computer monitor or laptop.
It’s impossible to make any electronic device that is compliant, since the IC’s are processed with chemicals on the [list](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_65_list_of_chemicals).
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### Author:  [@edwardcoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwardcoast)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2018, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kvm-switches-and-proposition-65-warnings/811172/11 "2018-03-26T04:23:12Z")
I just found one made by Tripp Lite:
> **[Tripp Lite 2-Port KVM Switch w/ HDMI USB Audio Cables Peripheral Sharing...](https://www.newegg.com/tripp-lite-b032-hua2-kvm-switchbox/p/N82E16817404210?cm_re=B032-HUA2-_-17-404-210-_-Product)**
>
> Buy Tripp Lite 2-Port KVM Switch w/ HDMI USB Audio Cables Peripheral Sharing (B032-HUA2) with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!
Three-Year Warranty and **Environmentally Responsible Design**
For peace of mind, the B032-HUA2 comes backed by a three-year warranty and **is manufactured in compliance with strict RoHS specifications, reflecting Tripp Lite’s commitment to environmental responsibility.**
The RoHS might be the reason.
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### Author:  [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2018, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kvm-switches-and-proposition-65-warnings/811172/12 "2018-03-26T04:29:33Z")
> [@edwardcoast](#):
>
> I just found one made by Tripp Lite:
>
> [https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817404210&cm\_re=B032-HUA2-\_-17-404-210-\_-Product](https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817404210&cm_re=B032-HUA2-_-17-404-210-_-Product)
>
> Three-Year Warranty and **Environmentally Responsible Design**
> For peace of mind, the B032-HUA2 comes backed by a three-year warranty and **is manufactured in compliance with strict RoHS specifications, reflecting Tripp Lite’s commitment to environmental responsibility.**
>
> The RoHS might be the reason.
I’d be willing to bet that it doesn’t actually comply with Prop 65.
Any device which is not ROHS-complaint will automatically not be Prop 65 complaint, but just being ROHS doesn’t mean you pass Prop 65. For example, Carbon Black is on the Prop 65 list, but not on ROHS. And Carbon Black is ubiquitous.
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### Author:  [@edwardcoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwardcoast)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2018, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kvm-switches-and-proposition-65-warnings/811172/13 "2018-03-26T04:30:17Z")
> [@beowulff](#):
>
> It’s impossible to make any electronic device that is compliant, since the IC’s are processed with chemicals on the [list](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_65_list_of_chemicals).
Perhaps there’s another criteria in the manufacturing. I don’t know, but the Tripp Lite one I just posted about is RoHS compliant and that might also satisfy the [www.P65Warnings.ca.gov](http://www.P65Warnings.ca.gov).
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### Author:  [@edwardcoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwardcoast)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2018, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kvm-switches-and-proposition-65-warnings/811172/14 "2018-03-26T04:36:32Z")
> [@beowulff](#):
>
> I’d be willing to bet that it doesn’t actually comply with Prop 65.
> Any device which is not ROHS-complaint will automatically not be Prop 65 complaint, but just being ROHS doesn’t mean you pass Prop 65. For example, Carbon Black is on the Prop 65 list, but not on ROHS. And Carbon Black is ubiquitous.
We might never know, because they don’t provide specific information or how the decision was made for the warning on the IOGEAR and not on that specific Tripp Lite product.
I guess we are to take a leap of faith, that those without the warning are deemed safer than those that have a warning.
I’m just buying one KVM HDMI switch for me to use. If I were involved with buying them for a an entire county’s school system, I’d think that someone would put that requirement in the RFP before it goes out to bid.
---
### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2018, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kvm-switches-and-proposition-65-warnings/811172/15 "2018-03-26T13:16:57Z")
It’s worth reiterating that there’s no penalty at all for putting the warning on when it’s not needed. Even if your product has nothing at all in it that would or could be on the Prop65 list, it won’t hurt to put the warning on. And if you make a large number of products, it’s probably easier to put the warning on everything than it is to go through and figure out which items actually need it. The only drawback would be consumer reaction, but the warnings have gotten to be so ubiquitous that everyone ignores them anyway.
A much better approach would be if manufacturers could put on a sticker that says “This product is known to the state of California to not cause cancer”, and provide penalties for putting that sticker on things that don’t actually comply with the standards. Then, companies could decide if it’s worth it to go through the certification to use the sticker, and since most products wouldn’t have the sticker, its presence would actually mean something.
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### Author:  [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2018, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kvm-switches-and-proposition-65-warnings/811172/16 "2018-03-26T13:53:19Z")
> [@Cleophus](#):
>
> It’s a California thing. The product is not hazardous. CA Proposition 65 requires a warning whenever specifically defined chemicals are present, but doesn’t specify an exposure level. There is liability for omitting it, but there is no penalty for unnecessarily including it. Manufacturers thus add the warning as an ass-covering measure regardless of actual risk.
>
> The chemical the manufacturer probably has in mind is the lead solder on the electronics, encased in the device.
if the cables have PVC insulation/jackets, there’s a chance the vinyl may have [lead-based stabilizers.](http://www.pvc.org/en/p/lead-stabilisers)
---
### Author:  [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2018, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kvm-switches-and-proposition-65-warnings/811172/17 "2018-03-26T14:03:56Z")
I’m waiting for this sign in maternity wards:
\*\*“Warning: The eventual mortality rate of anyone being born is 100%.” \*\*
---
### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2018, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kvm-switches-and-proposition-65-warnings/811172/18 "2018-03-26T14:18:29Z")
> [@friedo](#):
>
> I don’t think any mass-produced devices use lead solder anymore.
What type of electrical solder does not contain lead?
---
### Author:  [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2018, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kvm-switches-and-proposition-65-warnings/811172/19 "2018-03-26T14:21:09Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#):
>
> What type of electrical solder does not contain lead?
er, lead-free solder? It’s pretty widespread now, it’s mostly tin with a variable amount of copper and sometimes silver.
edit:
> **[Lead-Free Alloy Bar Solder](https://www.kester.com/products/product/lead-free-alloy-bar-solder)**
>
> Manufactured by a special process that controls the inclusions of oxides and metallic and non-metallic impurities, Kester Ultrapure® is the industry standard bar solder for use in high tech electronic applications where lower surface tension and hole...
---
### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2018, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kvm-switches-and-proposition-65-warnings/811172/20 "2018-03-26T14:29:33Z")
Thanks.
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