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Lead in Vacuums?

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YadaYadaYada

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Feb 2, 2016
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We are in the market for a new vacuum, previously we've had a Dyson Animal (the first one ever made) and a Dyson Ball, no complaints but the Ball sucked up a Lego at some point that bent a blade in the motor somehow and now it makes the most awful noise. So decided maybe it's time to get another vacuum, I'm not married to Dyson so started looking at all the different makes and models.

Well in my research I've been comparison shopping and as much as I don't like Walmart, they do have the cheapest prices which is handy for price matching. Anyways here I am looking into this one vacuum when I scroll down and see a box with the following message:

"This product contains chemicals, including lead, known to the State of California to cause cancer, and birth defects or other reproductive harm. Wash hands after handling".

Wait.....lead in vacuums, maybe I'm ignorant but it never occurred to me to worry about this and it's a concern since we do have young children in the house, even so I do not particularly want to be touching something with lead paint on a daily basis. So it looks like we are going with Dyson again because I found a post on FB where someone asked them about this and they responded that their machines do not contain lead.

Yikes, can't even buy an appliance without the threat of heavy metal exposure, scary!
 
I hate vacuuming. Just sayin. I have a Hoover Windtunnel PAWS made for pet hair. I guess it works OK.
Good luck with your search!
 
Yes the ones for the pet hair were first on our list too! Actually I told my 12 year old son that this was his belated birthday present since his room is the only one with carpet :lol:
 
I need a new vacuum too! I was thinking about buying either the Dyson Animal V10 or V11 cordless vacuum.
 
We bought the Dyson V10 Cyclone this year. I think that's the name. It's great. I don't think I'd ever get a different one. Vacuuming is hard for me no matter what. The Dyson cordless is the least hard.
 
About the lead...
I was searching for a humidifier and some had the same warning, I freaked and spent months trying to find a decent one that didn’t have the warning. I finally called a manufacturer to ask what is up with lead in humidifiers and they said it is a warning they are required to put on even if there will be no lead exposure to the user. It is lead found in the circuit board and no where else in the unit and has to do with disposing of the unit, that there is no risk to using the machine....
 
That's interesting @JrJ, I know CA laws are really strict. My concern was if the lead was in an area of the vacuum that gets handled a lot, there is no way to know really so I narrowed the search down to machines that did not have that warning.

@lyra I've always been a big fan of Dyson and when I got this newest vacuum Home expected to love it. However there was one major flaw and that was the hose doesn't have a handle anymore when you are using an attachment? Even the more expensive Dyson models don't have it, so back it went. Also on the machine we bought the plastic didn't feel as solid, granted it is Dyson's least expensive upright but for $300 on sale I still expected it to feel more solid.

Back we went and returned the Dyson and exchanged it for a Bissell Pet Eraser Turbo, granted it doesn't have a HEPA filter but after testing it out I'm definitely a fan. So time will tell but today it was Bissell for the win especially at under $200 :dance:
 
Wow @StephanieLynn, I would have never even thought about lead being in a vacuum. It’s especially scary when you have small children in the house,

@JrJ, Just wondering if the the lead is in the solder used in circuit board.
 
Calliecake said:
Wow @StephanieLynn, I would have never even thought about lead being in a vacuum. It’s especially scary when you have small children in the house,

@JrJ, Just wondering if the the lead is in the solder used in circuit board.
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I'm sure that would be the only place any modern appliance would use lead - it would see to be too dense and heavy to be desired material for use in a portable vacuum cleaner, and lead paint has been outlawed for years.

California just seems to be ultra-, ultra-strict on warnings!
 
@JrJ, Just wondering if the the lead is in the solder used in circuit board.[/QUOTE]

That is the impression I got after hanging up with them. I was so freaked out until I called that at once I heard that it was only in the circuit boards I didn’t ask any more questions because I was SO relieved, I couldn’t wait to finally pick a humidifier (the dry air was killing my sinuses).
 
I don't know about lead but I highly recommend Miele! They are the best vacuum I have ever had! 7 year warranty, nothing has that so they stand by their product!
 
Gussie said:
I don't know about lead but I highly recommend Miele! They are the best vacuum I have ever had! 7 year warranty, nothing has that so they stand by their product!
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I should hope so for the price they charge for their stuff!! :lol: lol
 
Gussie said:
Yes very expensive but soooo worth it!
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Second this! I’ve had a Miele canister vac for 10 years and it still works better than the Dyson cordless vac I got about four years ago.

It’s probably not fair to compare a full-size canister vac to a cordless, so I’ll add that the Dyson did not perform significantly better than the cheap Eureka refurbed stick vacuum that we had.

As a Dyson owner, I would not recommend it.
 
I was going to go the Miele route, but I couldn't do the handle with my arthritis. So it was cordless or nothing. Haha. Hiring a housekeeper was not in the equation unfortunately. I joke, but actually I feel bad that I can't really pull my own weight around the house so much anymore. :oops2:
 
Yeah, Cali has some good regulations. But here it just means the circuit board, or working parts may have lead in them. Sometimes lead is used where no other metal will withstand the heat or friction. If there were a serious risk of inhaling or ingesting the by-products of lead, it wouldn't be allowed on the market AT ALL.
You're not eating your vacuum.
You'll be fine!
 
From what little research I did apparently the plastic cords can contain lead just like the strings on Christmas lights. My main concern With it being in the plastic coating of the cord is that my 12 year old son will be handling it regularly to vacuum his room, so I'd rather just buy a vacuum without one of those warnings.

In the case of the Shark vacuum that had the lead warning, it had an additional warning to wash hands after use which is common sense for adults but kids are sometimes less conscious. It was curious that some of the other vacuums did not have a lead warning but a warning about cancer causing chemicals, again I didn't research all of them but the Bissell vacuums did not have either of these. Now whether this vacuum lasts any amount of time is to be seen.
 
Gussie said:
I don't know about lead but I highly recommend Miele! They are the best vacuum I have ever had! 7 year warranty, nothing has that so they stand by their product!
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I have a pearl that just.wont.die. Love it but SOOOOO heavy! Its at his house. at MY house I have a smaller and much more light weight C3 Calmina in Canary Yellow:kiss2:
 
Arcadian said:
I have a pearl that just.wont.die. Love it but SOOOOO heavy! Its at his house. at MY house I have a smaller and much more light weight C3 Calmina in Canary Yellow:kiss2:
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I have a U1 cat and dog for downstairs and a U1 powerline for upstairs. They are white and black, no fun colors! But I could not believe the difference in my old Dyson when I upgraded to Miele. I knew then and there I was old - to be that excited over a vacuum! :lol-2:
 
StephanieLynn said:
From what little research I did apparently the plastic cords can contain lead just like the strings on Christmas lights. My main concern With it being in the plastic coating of the cord is that my 12 year old son will be handling it regularly to vacuum his room, so I'd rather just buy a vacuum without one of those warnings.
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I have never heard of this (although clearly I am not omnipresent so may have missed hearing about it ;) :lol: )

What research did you find??

Lead is expensive, I cannot believe that any company would voluntarily put it into cabling when plastic is so cheap and so suitable for the task.
 
@OoohShiny, this report was done on the Christmas lights:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/12/10/christmas.lights/

Apparently lead is used to stabliize the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) used as insulation so electrical cords, Christmas lights and garden hoses for example. This would explain why garden hoses made of pvc have a warning label not to drink from them. Honestly I never thought that had to do with lead, any plastic that can heat up in the sun IMO was probably not ideal to drink from.
 
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