A question about poly-c tubing.

[Obi-Dar Ke-Gnomie]

I have a 6" piece of cut off blade tubing, and my son, (15 mo.) likes to play with it. For some reason, he is fascinated by it. Like most babies, he puts everything in his mouth.

I know that some plastics can be toxic if ingested. (Think of lead in older venetian blinds.) Is there anything toxic in the polycarbonate that I should worry about?

[Novastar]

That is a good question--never thought of THAT one!

I'd have to look it up on wikipedia or google or something. I did have some link to poly-c specifications at one time... it's in a thread somewhere... lost... But then again, I think we were looking for the burn or melt temperatures...

[Obi-Dar Ke-Gnomie]

Don't go to the trouble of looking it up. I can do that. I just thought someone might know off the top of their head.

[Obi-Dar Ke-Gnomie]

I just found this site:

http://www.bisphenol-a.org/human/polyplastics.html

They did a thorough study of polycarbonate in food related uses.

Quote:

"Conclusion

Human exposure to BPA from food-contact use of polycarbonate plastic is very low and poses no known risk to human health. The use of polycarbonate plastic for food contact applications has been and continues to be recognized as safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the European Commission's Scientific Committee on Food, the United Kingdom Food Standards Agency, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, and other regulatory authorities worldwide."

What I got from it is that it is possible for Bisphenol A (BPA) to leach out under normal use, but in such small quantities that it is essentially harmless. In other words, a toddler using a lightsaber blade as a trumpet isn't likely to develop cancer of the mouth.

I did find a MSDS for it.

http://www.sheffieldplasticsinc.com/...cs/MSDS_AR.pdf

Basically, if you grind it to dust, melt or burn it, it can be toxic, so use appropriate safety equipment.

[Novastar]

Great finds, Obi-Dar! Thanks...

Something else I thought of later on... duh... if MR can market toys with plastic/poly-c... gee... I would imagine THEY had to pass some safety tests initially.

Even so... this is good "positive" publicity for safety on the poly-tubes.

Granted, the blinding light is a different story, hehehe. I could see some kind of kill-switch utilizing the blade "being in there" working well someday. Someday...

[Obi-Dar Ke-Gnomie]

It wouldn't take much. If you could find a way to fit a little micro switch in the blade holder, it could act as a kill switch.

I might be building a PVC hilt setup like Jay-Gon's for my nephew for Christmas. I'll either screw or glue the blade in place permanently so he doesn't blind his sisters.

[Dregan]

Water bottles like Nalgene brand are made from the same stuff, as are pro-grade food contrainers. In fact, the first time I saw a polyC tube was at Main Street Muffins bakery/factory, in the 5500 square foot kitchen, which they used to pipe ingrediants like corn syrup and water around in.

Very food safe.