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Purchased a Kraft Music bundled package which includes the following piano bench:

https://on-stage.com/products/view/10510

Read the "Information" description:

WARNING: This product may contain chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer, and birth defects and other reproductive harm.

What chemicals exactly are a problem, here?

I expect this is related to:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_65_(1986)

http://oehha.ca.gov/prop65/background/p65plain.html

James
x

James,

Thanks for the info although I am still trying to figure out what part of the bench (perhaps the seat cushion?) contains the potential issue for chemicals as described?

I suppose I can ask Kraft to leave out the "bench" in my order (as I really do not need a new one) or perhaps just substitute another item for the bench.

Proposition 65 regulates substances officially listed by California as having a 1 in 100,000 chance of causing cancer over a 70-year period

That's what it is about. Most likely there's formaldehyde in the bench foam or somewhere else in the construction.

Most likely it is in every bench you've ever owned. This warning would be an example of the result of the litigious nature of the USA.

Jay

Do they list other benches that don't carry this warning? If not, it could be a rider they put on everything just to protect themselves legally. I suspect it's to do with vinyl padding. Probably a leather padded bench wouldn't carry it. If it's not that - it must be the polyester/polyurethane paint on the legs. In that case, all of them probably carry the same warning.

Jay,

I currently have the following bench I had been using with my V-Piano -- but it will be used no more:

https://on-stage.com/products/view/10506/117166

Apparently a fair number of their benches carries the "warning" -- but have to wonder why not all of them?

Also, I have not been using this bench anyway since I find it to be far too soft in the seat and does not give proper back support when sitting for long periods.

The solid hardwood Yamaha benches are far better!

Please note that not ALL of their benches carry the warning as this makes things more confusing when comparing them:

https://on-stage.com/products/category/benches

Looks like 2 benches out of 8 in the links below do not carry the warning:

1) https://on-stage.com/products/view/10515/117170
2) https://on-stage.com/products/view/12515/122703

The first one is similar to what what is in my "bundle" (but does not have a flip-top seat) although I will not be accepting a bench as they all have the same materials -- same manufacturer, right?

Don't need an extra bench, anyway.

Okay, it's probably not worth worrying about then.

I assume you have already contacted Viscount/Physis to check that their instruments comply with the Prop 65 law?

Kind regards,
James
x

No, as I was not even aware of this law you are mentioning until your reply. Is there any reason to believe there might be something hazardous in a digital piano and/or stand?

Sounds like this "law" could apply to a lot of stuff other than piano benches. I had a ceramic mug I bought at Walmart that I threw away after finding out it contained lead and did not want to risk problems with drinking anything from it.

How could a piano bench or digital pianos be dangerous, exactly?

Upholstery stuffing on your piano bench (couch, bed, kitchen chairs) can contain fungicides, insecticides. The cloth or vinyl can contain solvents, the paint and/or wax can contain solvents. The whole thing can contain VOC's like formaldehyde, glycol, acetone, pick a chemical.

Circuit boards in your piano can contain lead solder (though it's not supposed to) and the capacitors can contain who-knows-what for dielectric material. The circuit board itself and the case and piano keys can contain bisphenol, styrene, vinyl chloride and all sorts of other goodies.

Is your piano casing or stand made of wood? MDF is usually glued together with urea formaldehyde.

Would you like to know what's in the carpet that's in the room your piano sits in? The paint on the walls? The wallboard under the paint, the drywall mud, and the wood trim around the edges?

Seriously, if you're going to worry about all of this stuff to the point that you avoid it completely you're probably going to have to live in a cabin in the woods that you construct yourself from trees that you cut yourself, and you'll have to heat it with firewood that you cut yourself in a stone fireplace that you've built using clay for mortar. (Watch out for microparticles in the air from burning that firewood, too.)

Just about all modern manufactured items will contain something that can be construed as bad for you or bad for the environment. It's just the world that we live in, and the price that we pay for having all of these convenient and nifty things.

Yeah, my vote for that, it be nice to do that, at least you will be aware from what moment your life was start to drop to the end, naturally of course.

It should be repeated that the cited warning hails from California. Odd, isn't it, that a state plagued by water shortages (from building great cities where water resources are scarce) and by poor air quality (from growing cities where natural atmospheric conditions amplify the problem) should champion warnings about material safety.

The most populous state lives in (and helps create) quality of life problems, and yet proceeds to warn people of the dangers of (in this case) miniscule amounts of formaldehyde in plastics ... about which the consumer can do little.

As Frank Cox points out, just live with such "dangers". (And we do.)

I would add: Ignore California. The nutty over-reactors there seem to outnumber the sane.

This.

They should just put a general warning that being born increases your chances of getting cancer.

Yes, in Californian hospitals they could immediately pop a little toe tag onto each newborn with a disclaimer stating "this human being will die one day, you've brought it into this world at your own risk".

Where will the insanity end? I saw a gaggle of school kids the other day on a trip out in our local park...they all had little matching fluorescent tabards on and were being constantly monitored by several adults including some hapless parents who'd been roped in to meet some ridiculous adult/child ratio I assume. I don't know why I found the whole spectacle so depressing, but I did. I thought to myself that someone will next suggest each kid must wear some kind of headgear with flashing orange lights on. The absurdity of the idea struck me but then I realised that if it really was put forward as a way to enhance their safety then it would probably really happen, because the authorities would be so scared of not adopting this wonderful new safety measure.

I thought just leaving the house was dangerous but now I realise the vinyl on my piano stool is actually killing me so I have retreated to the garden, in fear of my life. I hope a plane doesn't crash on my head out here. Or a large pigeon. But I'm scared to go back in the house because of the vinyl. But then the cold will kill me tonight...so what should I do? Anyone?

Stay on the shade. Sunrays are known for producing skin cancer

This is a massive problem and the issue is complex. Having said that, the answer to your specific question above is clear: you should stay put in your back garden and slowly freeze to death (pity we didn't think of it a couple of months back when the process would have been speeded up by the 100% natural phenomenon known as 'winter'). You will go on to make excellent organic material for the birds and bees. Don't spoil it by sitting on a vynl piano bench first as the sparrows might choke on the stream of formaldehyde which you will, no doubt, emit in a most offensive manner. In a nutshell, beware of life, which has, in some states been identified as deadly.

I would add: Ignore California. The nutty over-reactors there seem to outnumber the sane.

I would think someone from North Carolina wouldn't be pointing their finger at California.

Voting ID laws, restrictive abortion laws, but if you want to buy an assault weapon in North Carolina, no problem.

Quite possibly true. But, an assault weapon MIGHT kill you. A vinyl covered piano bench will DEFINITELY kill you. Apparently.

Hi Pv88

If you are concerned you might want to do some research on BPA (Bisphenol A) and its substitutes BPS and BPF these are known endocrine disruptors.

Also the omnipresent Phthalates that are also widely used in plastics notable versions being BBzp (butyl benzyl phthalate), DnBP (dibutyl phthalate) and DEHB (di-2-ethyl hexyl phthalate).

Kind regards
Angela.