"Attn, China shoppers:"

[chip anderson]

Hate to throw rain on this parade, but I suspect the label was made in the USA (Probably by illegals).
Chip

[Jubilee]

Nucor is an ideal example

For years it was bringing in better ROI than Jack Welsh's GE. A profitable steel company in the US. Non-unionized, and the employees would have it no other way.

and one of the larger employers in my hometown!


Cassandra

[DocInChina]

Hate to throw rain on this parade, but I suspect the label was made in the USA (Probably by illegals).
Chip

Now that is a good one.

[chip anderson]

Lead paint was very good paint. If you wonder why the paint on your expensive cars turns to junk, it's because the took the lead out of the paint. The dangers in lead paint are mostly to the painters not the users, true there was a problem with getto children knawing the paint on windows appearently. But I suspect the danger from contact with an eyeglass frame painted with same is zero. I also suspect the danger of anyone eating the paint off a car is zil. Now toys for infants painted with lead based paint might be a problem. But from eyeglasses zero.

I can remember when the paint on Chryler products lasted 3 years, Fords seven and G.M. cars over ten. Good old lead and lead primer was wonderfull stuff.

I don't think there were too many of male children who didn't occasionally chew lead pellets, pry the lead out of a .22 bullet and chew it. I don't remember any of us getting lead poisoning. We also got mercury out of thermometers, mercury switches and the like and none of us died or got sick from it. The danger there seems to be from the vapor exuded from some mercury oxide vapors when heated. Pure mercury, I think can be swallowed without ill effects. For that matter unless one has an ulcer, or other lesion in the digestive track you can swallow rattlesnake poision with no ill effects.

You may not have noticed but our government tends to over react and over regulate appearently for no other reasons than to exercise control and power over us minions. There was never a problem with PMMA contact lenses (as far a allergy and chemical reaction) but once soft lenses came out an Dr. Stone came out with an erronious statement about improperly cured plastics, the industry became so regulated that only large companies can cope with the regulations.

Chip :(

[Chris Ryser]

I just looked at this thread for the first time. I am surprised that you guy's worry about materials on frames being ........maybe unsafe............maybe toxic ................if from China.

All plastics have started as a chemical mix.........and you would not want to drink or eat those chemicals because they would twist your insides upside down.

However polymerized into a finished workable piece of material they are mostly all safe in room temperature conditions, and worn as optical glasses. This also applies for metal frame coatings.
However most products that are totally safe can produce very toxic fumes when over heated or put on fire.

I once developed a coating for dentures and the cost to bring it. to FDA acceptance was over $ 3,000,000 which I did not have and abandoned the project. This was mostly due to proving that the cured material would not leach any toxic chemicals in the mouth.

Now if we are going to talk about the various chemicals in the lab alloy often contains lead, cadmium, and other terrible metals, again don't eat any of it. Same with tint tanks don't stand over them breathing the stuff in, not a good idea.

Taking the proper measurements when working with chemicals is a must.

Most chemicals do NOT emit toxic fumes when not heated. However when hot they can become dangerous animals and many safety data sheets (MSDS) will not give you the difference between hot and cold conditions.

Your own small corner in your store where you keep your hot tinting unit is as bad as any chinese factory cooking up nasty chemicals.

Lens dye neutralizer:

repeated contact with skin may cause dermatitis in sensitive individuals.
no evidence of adverse effects from available information
causes irritation. causes pain. causes eye burns. may cause conjunctivitis.
may cause irritation of the nose and throat with headache, particularly from mists. high vapour concentrations (caused by heating material) in an enclosed and poorly ventilated workplace may produce nausea, vomitting, headache, dizziness, and irregular eye movements.
may cause abdominal discomfort or pain, nausea, vomitting, dizziness, drowsiness, malaise, blurring of vision, irritability, lumbar pain, oliguria, uremia, and central nervous systems effects, including irregular eye movement, convulsions and coma. cardiac failure and pulmonary oedema may develop, severe kidney damage follows the swallowing of large volumes of ethylene glycol. may be fatal. few reports have been published describing the development of weakness of the facial muscles, diminished hearing, and difficulty swallowing, during stages of severe poisoning.
refer to route of entry
repeated contact with skin may cause dermatitis in sensitive individuals. ethylene glycol has been shown to produce dose-related teratogenic effects in rats and mice when given by gavage or in drinking water at high doses or concentrations. also , in a preliminay studyto assess the effects of exposure of pregnant rats and mice to aeosols at concentrations 150, 1000, and 2500 mg/m3 for 6 hours a day throughout the period of organogenesis, teratogenic effects were produced at the highest concentration, but only in mice. the conditions of these latter experiments did notallow a cnclusion as to wehther the developmental toxicity was mediated by inhalation of aerosol, percutaneous absorbtion of ethylene glycol from hogh aerosol concentrations by whole-body or nose-only exposure, it was shown that nose-only exposure resulted in maternal toxicity (1000 and 2500 mg/m3), and developmental toxicity with minimal evidence of teratogenicity (2500 mg/m3) in

NEUTRALIZER

a further study in mice in mice no teratogenic effects could be produced when ethylene glycol was applied to the skin of prgnant mice ove a period of organogenesis. the above observations suggest that ethylene gly col is to be regarded as an animal teratogen; there is currently no available nformation to suggest that ethylene glycol is to be regarded as an animal teatogen; there is currently no available information to suggest that ethylene glycol has caused birth defects in humans. cutaneous application of ethylene glycol is ineffective in producing developmental toxicity; exposure to high aerosol is
only minimally effective in producing developmental toxicity; the major route for producing developmental toxicity is perorally. two chronic feeding studies, using rats and mice, have not produced any evidence that ethylene glycol causes dose related increases in tumor incidence, or a different pattern of tumors compared to untreated controls. the absence of a carcinogenic potential fro ethylene glycol has been supported by numerous in vitro genotoxicity studies showing that it does not produce mutagenic or clastogenic effects.


You are exposed day in and day out to above conditions, because most of you do not have a ventilated hood drawing the fumes outside the building.

For above reasons we developed 7 years ago a water and surfactant based neutralizer (totally safe and for all types of lenses) about 7 years ago which has become very successful in Canada, Europe and even China while in the USA nobody shows any interest in protecting themselves and their employees.
See at: http://optochemicals.com/products/in...ralizer_sf.htm

[Johns]

I don't think there were too many of male children who didn't occasionally chew lead pellets, pry the lead out of a .22 bullet and chew it.

I agree Chip. I still carry a few .22 rounds around in my pockets in case I get bored during a meeting, or just need something to chew on. Of course, I always carry extras so I have enough to offer the other folks.

:D

[DragonLensmanWV]

But then you have Toyota and Nissan, who do very well with their American and Canadian plants. They are non-unionized. The employees do not want to join the unions.

Close - they are not allowed to form a union. We have a Toyota engine plant near here.

[For-Life]

Close - they are not allowed to form a union. We have a Toyota engine plant near here.

I am sure when Ford and GM got their first unions they were not allowed either. You cannot legally (in Canada and the US) prevent unions in the workplace.

[obxeyeguy]

Hate to throw rain on this parade, but I suspect the label was made in the USA (Probably by illegals).
Chip

Ha! Your are probably right. The old frame trick from years ago when no one wanted a frame made in Japan. Make the frame in Japan, install temple tips in USA, stamp made in USA on temple.

[DragonLensmanWV]

Ha! Your are probably right. The old frame trick from years ago when no one wanted a frame made in Japan. Make the frame in Japan, install temple tips in USA, stamp made in USA on temple.

I saw a story on TV once where they had sent an undercover guy to China to purchase clothing. The operative told the plant manager that he could not have his products labeled as Made In China, nor could they be imported from China. The manager chuckled and took him into a back room where there were all sorts of boxes, flattened and stuck on the wall, with various countries of origin stenciled on them. He also showed him a wall of sew-in labels and asked the operative, "What country do you want these made in and imported from? We can do all of these.We'll just label them and stamp the boxes for whatever country you specify."

[Uncle Fester]

Just came back from a weekend visit to friends in Richmond VA, and as usual, wives wanted to shop. My wife bought a dress at Macy"s, after discounts, about $23. Read the tag, Made in America!!!! Someone can do it. First clothing article I have seen made here in forever.

I believe a US territory is allowed to label "Made in America". I think a couple years ago a republican big wig was under fire for visiting a South Pacific island where dirt cheap clothes were made by illegal immigrants held in slave like conditions.


"Muscle jobs will always go to countries where the muscle is cheapest." Bill Clinton on selling NAFTA to auto workers worried they might lose their jobs to Mexico.

[Uni-Clip]

I saw a story on TV once where they had sent an undercover guy to China to purchase clothing. The operative told the plant manager that he could not have his products labeled as Made In China, nor could they be imported from China. The manager chuckled and took him into a back room where there were all sorts of boxes, flattened and stuck on the wall, with various countries of origin stenciled on them. He also showed him a wall of sew-in labels and asked the operative, "What country do you want these made in and imported from? We can do all of these.We'll just label them and stamp the boxes for whatever country you specify."

I remember that TV story too. I'm not fascinated with the Chinese plant be able to print anything they want on product or packaging. I'm more amazed how the US/European importers can get the goods through their own customs. I still see this things happening........

[Alvaro Cordova]

Paul Harvey said the other day that GM, Ford and Chrysler are losing money making cars overseas. While Toyota, and Nissan are making cars
in the U.S. and making money.

And some of us folks in the optical business think we want unions.

Chip

I purchased my Honda primarily because it was mostly (transmission was made in Japan) made in the USA. I still care about made in the USA. I go out of my way to buy it, but many industries are dwindling here and sometimes I am not left with many options.

[ShuString]

I guy came into my office and said, "I haven't been feeling too good today. Maybe it's the fake cotton in my China undershirt, or the fake leather in my China shoes, or the chemicals in my China toothpaste..." He went on, and on, and got a chuckle.

I was waiting for him to say, "...maybe it's the lead in the paint on my China eyeglass frames." He didn't.

Everyone, (ok, a lot of folks) are raising a stink about all unregulated goods coming from China, and the composition of the products. What assurance do we have that the millions of frames and lenses that we dispense aren't full of formaldahyde, lead, and other harmful items ?

Besides the UL & CE ratings, are there any industry standards that address this. Do any of the above standards even address this?

Does anybody know?

Does anybody care?

Just wondering...

After seeing all the toys they show on the news and noticing alot of them my grandchildren play with, really ticks me off. We have sold ourselves out, and maybe at our childrens expense.
P.s, Sorry for venting here but saw this post and it hit me head on.

[DocInChina]

After seeing all the toys they show on the news and noticing alot of them my grandchildren play with, really ticks me off. We have sold ourselves out, and maybe at our childrens expense.
P.s, Sorry for venting here but saw this post and it hit me head on.

Go through google and search for products made in the USA that have been recalled over the years for being unsafe. Worse yet, look to see which unsafe products made in the USA were then exported to other countries.

Low end consumer products cannot be made affordably in the USA, nor should we lament about now not being able to do so. The US has always been an innovator and creator of new technology which has higher margins than low end products. Allowing less developed countries to develop opens up new sales markets for high end US goods.

Sorry your children won't be maufacturing low end consumer products. Encourage, prod, force them to excel in school and earn higher education degrees in technology, biotech, computers, etc. If you do not then you will have a real reason to hit yourself on the head.

Doc

[DocInChina]

You may not have noticed but our government tends to over react and over regulate appearently for no other reasons than to exercise control and power over us minions.

well said

[ShuString]

Go through google and search for products made in the USA that have been recalled over the years for being unsafe. Worse yet, look to see which unsafe products made in the USA were then exported to other countries.

Low end consumer products cannot be made affordably in the USA, nor should we lament about now not being able to do so. The US has always been an innovator and creator of new technology which has higher margins than low end products. Allowing less developed countries to develop opens up new sales markets for high end US goods.

Sorry your children won't be maufacturing low end consumer products. Encourage, prod, force them to excel in school and earn higher education degrees in technology, biotech, computers, etc. If you do not then you will have a real reason to hit yourself on the head.

Doc

Well Doc in China, I'm very glad my children are very successful in their professions,and trust me they are not working in some little sweat shop manufacturing low end consumer products. my comments flew over your head. I was commenting about the poor quality and how it is starting to hit home.. Get It?

[DocInChina]

Well Doc in China, I'm very glad my children are very successful in their professions,and trust me they are not working in some little sweat shop manufacturing low end consumer products. my comments flew over your head. I was commenting about the poor quality and how it is starting to hit home.. Get It?

Actually, I didn't get it until you explained yourself. Forty years ago when the US was importing goods from Japan and Taiwan the quality of the goods was considered quite poor. As we know those 2 countries manufacturing capabilities improved and are now considered amongst the best in the world for automobiles (Japan) and consumer electronics (Japan and Taiwan). China today compared to 10 years ago has improved dramatically. In the end it is the responsibility of the importing company to insure they are working with the best manufacturer not necessarily the cheapest manufacturer. When the importers shop price and not quality then we should not be surprised that quality issues arise.

Doc

[RustyS]

There are entire Japanese plants that have moved to China because its cheaper to have a Chinese guy press the red button while their representative oversees. Its the same plant and same substrate but labor is much cheaper. You could find a Chinese plant that beats Italian and Japanese plants and vice versa. Chinese plants have live in labor forces you can tour the plant and see where the 200 workers live and eat. Imagine if you had that plant in Montana you would be the devil in the eyes of the media. Nobody ever talks about that

[RGC_man]

If we don't worry about their human rights and living conditions, why should they worry about the quality of what they sell us (and what we willingly buy)?

It's a Faustian pact.