Dear Hal:
25 FEB 93
This is in response to your request for Information on the New York lead ban in the editorial of MWAN #62. I have written articles on the subject for the HMGS EASTandHAHMGS Newsletters, and will provide copies. The former apparently will not appear prior to COLD WARS and may wind up being superseded if there is significant new Information produced in the Interval. The latter article is in response to Rick Nance's accusation that Todd Fisher (EMPEROR'S HQ) and Steve Carpenter (MINIFIGS) were conspiring to defraud HMGS of funds to pay their business expenses. Rick Nance is still of the opinion that Jayhawker Hobbyists should abstain from bailing out Empire State Industrialists, but threatens to defend his cold lead with hot (the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Lead Soldier Gestapo comes looking for his toy soldiers). I offer the following summary of what seems to have occurred:
On 3 DEC 92 Dr. Mark Chassin, Health Commissioner or whatever of the State of New York issued a ban on the distribution and sale of lead figures in his state on pounds that such figures were an immanent threat to the health and safety of the citizens-particularly young and Impressionable ones. It began:
"WHEREAS, lead is an environmental poison for children and lead exposure is one of the most preventable childhood health problems in New York State today; and"....
It continues later on:
"WHEREAS, it therefore appears to be prejudicial to the interests of the people to delay action for fifteen days until an opportunity for a hearing can be provided in accordance with the provisions of Public Health Law Section 12-a.
"NOW, THEREFORE, THE COMMISSIONER OF HEALTH DOES HEREBY ORDER THAT:
"1) Pursuant to Public Health Law Section 16, the following Respondents, manufacturers of the figurine products containing lead specified at paragraph 3 below, shall Immediately cease the sale and/or distribution of said products in New York State:"
Listed were CITADEL MINIATURES, GHQ, GRENADIER MODELS, LANCE & LASER MODELS INC, MINIATURE FIGURINES LTD, RAFM COMPANY INC, RAL PARTHA, and WEST END GAMES.
The ban went into effect on 2 DEC 92. It was challenged on 8 DEC 92 and on 15 DEC 92 an Administrative Law Judge reviewed the evidence, found that there was absolutely no basis in fact for the action. Dr. Chassin disregarded the findings, but the industry lawyers took the ALJ decision to a real judge, State Supreme Court Justice Edward 0. Spain on 18 DEC 93. The State's Attorney General tried to argue that the real court had no jurisdiction because Dr. Chassin's department hadn't finished stalling. The Judge threw it out and lifted the ban for 90 days.
The forces of good triumphed in one battle, but the forces of evil are financed by tax dollars. Most of the participants in the legal appeal seem to have concluded that it is cheaper to buy tin (or silver, or gold, or platinum) than lawyers. Like Steve McCarron, they are opting to go to higher priced metal and even trying to pressure other manufacturers to shift. As a result, Imported figures would be forced to change, and the market become narrower and less competitive. Dr. Chassin's malicious lying exercise of arbitrary bureaucratic power has triumphed. in spite of a certain amount of embarrassment over being caught in flagrant dishonesty he has succeeded in a relatively cheap publicity victoly over honest people minding their own business.
Revealing is a comment by a Dr. Ellen Silbergelb, a Maryland "expert on lead poisoning. "An article sent to me by Keith Hubbard clipped from the SEA TTLE HERALD quotes Dr. Silbergelb "The lead soldier per se, is not a hazard." "But she applauded New York's action because when it comes to the hazards of poisoning, "Lead is fundamental.""
What the Hell does "lead is fundamental" mean? And if the lead figures are no hazard, what right does a health bureaucrat have to ban them, and why should such official misconduct be applauded? But for New York, no matter. Apparently New York has a law prohibiting ALL lead in ALL products after NOV 93, or, at least such a law is referred to by an Industry representative reporting on a meeting with the NYDOH.
In my HMGS East Newsletter article I reported a rumor that the case had arisen from a nasty divorce battle. The father apparently was going after Westchester County for having a shooting range loaded with lead where his children had apparently played and developed abnormal lead levels in their bodies. The County counterattacked by attributing the lead levels to lead figurines (reported to be one or more fantasy figures from GRENADIER GAMES) in the children's bedrooms. That is confirmed by press reports. Still at the rumor stage is the story that the County range, which the County admits is a toxic site they need to clean up, is operated by the estranged wife's boyfriend. It would make a good soap opera, but probably nobody will ever be able to pin down where the children got the lead. (Usually pipes or paint.)
Are lead figures a health hazard? The overwhelming weight of evidence supports Dr. Silbergelb's conclusion: "The lead soldier, per se, is not a hazard. "Since all industry petitioners at the NYDOH hearing waved medical exam results on their employees in front of ALJ Brandes, the same is probably true when It comes to the dangers of lead casting to workers. That being said, lead, like most non-food items, is toxic if taken internally, and there are probably ways in which a person, particularly a child, might succeed in ingesting lead, even though, as ALJ Brandes concluded, the danger from casual contact was much more likely to be a matter of an object being swallowed than a matter of the object being made of lead.
How much danger is there to you or your children from lead figures? Probably none, but if you are concerned, have them tested medically. My partner Joe Burgess has been casting and handling lead compounds for over 20 years, having his blood tested periodically, and showed no ill effects. My policy has been to ignore the problem on the assumption that if it hasn't killed Joe yet it probably won't kill me until I'm dead of old age. Does it affect learning or memoiy? Lead can, but in my own case alcohol is a more likely culprit. I raised three children in a home full of lead figures. When they were very young I kept them from playing with the lead figures and encouraged them to play with plastic instead. They are now grown, over 30, have two college degrees apiece, and except that one has turned out to be a lawyer they have shown no ill effects.
While lately there has been a strong tendency for lead to attract lawyers the cause appears to be legal rather than metallurgical. That being said, overheated lead (over 800 degrees) does give off harmful vapors, and one hobbyist (a toy soldier collector) is reported to have died as a result of his peculiar habit of gluing unpainted figures together with epoxy and eating the lead impregnated epoxy from his fingers over a twenty year period. Since you can cast lead quite well at around 600 degrees, and lead is to most of us an unappetizing finger food, these conditions should be considered avoidable.
Will the industry get away from lead? Probably, but again, for legal rather than metallurgical or medical reasons. The lead ban people will keep at it in a perverse game of pressure group one upmanship. When they hold positions of power in bureaucracies like Drs. Chassin and Silbergelb they can play this game at public expense. While resistance to tyrants is morally appropriate, unless they can be successfully sued for punitive damages it doesn't make good business sense. For my part, I will use lead compounds for EB and HPC products until they are banned by overegulated Fairfax County, the State of Virginia, or the United States. However, if you plan to grind them up and sprinkle them on your baby's pablum let me be the first to recommend STONE MOUNTAIN products (actually granola would be an even better choice.)
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© Copyright 1993 Hal Thinglum
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