# Safe Material... or not...



## Magicdragon (Sep 20, 2007)

Aight, so this is in relevance to my previous post about my rat cage project. Rats chew through zip ties. The answer, metal wire.

Now, my father gave me some metal wire that was supposed to be used for an electric fence. I have a lot of it and it's almost perfect... notice I said ALMOST... So, on my way to my collage class today, I read the Warning label and here is what it says.

WARNING: There are chemicals in this product that are known by the state of California to cause cancer, birth defects and other related reproductive harm. WASH HANDS AFTER USE!

Ok so that is not very comforting. So the reasonable response would be, DON"T USE IT!!!! 

Well, I'm not going to, but I would like to see if there are any experts in the crowd. Rather then asking for an opinion, which I'm sure everyone wants to pitch in. I rather see if anyone knows for a FACT the answer. 

So with that stated, here are the questions...

Is this Warning label on there for individuals that handle this wire every day?
Is this wire harmful to my rats?
Can the chemicals be washed off?
Does this wire release a constant harmful chemical, or is it harmful only initially.

And I realize that the answers could be the result of what type of metal this wire is, but there is no material list. So I just have a feeling I'm not going to use it...


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## Kimmiekins (Apr 14, 2007)

The only fact I can say is that if it's unsafe for humans, it is WAY unsafe for rats and would likely cause severe illness or death. Depending on what chemicals, and with a warning like that I'd be afraid to know, it really could and may very well be fatal. Even if you washed the wire off, you have no way of knowing if it comes off and if it did, if all of it would.

I searched Google for the warning and found nothing specific on wire, but that it is put on dangerous products.

Opinion wise - I'm with you on not using it.


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## cjshrader (Feb 15, 2007)

Without knowing what the wire is I doubt you can get any expert opinion on the topic. Also, I don't believe anyone on this forum is a metallurgist and would know the answer to your question.

I think I mentioned this earlier but I found some wire at Target in their hardware section that was only $2 and I think will work quite nicely. I'll be using it tomorrow probably so I can let you know how it works out.


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## BlueSkyy (Sep 27, 2007)

i believe the warning label is talking about lead.
i think that the wire may have small quantities of lead mixed with the rest of the metal, or may be coated with lead dust.
my air conditioner has the same warning on the plug.
(kind of unsettling since that air conditioner is blowing air through my apartment which my ratties and i are breathing)


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## Forensic (Apr 12, 2007)

If you don't live in California you're safe, right? 

The lead sounds likely, else it's some other heavy metal in the alloy. You'll probably be all right and so should the ratties.

And not all rats chew through zip ties. But many will.


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## chrisstrikeagain (Apr 10, 2007)

While browsing through the garage, many wires had lead. I'd guess its lead. and it cant be washed off. smart you for not using it. I have heavy dutty zipties, and they remain unchewed.


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## Poppyseed (Feb 1, 2007)

Also, you can get those 100lb super heavy duty zip ties at a hardware store  Also many places sell c-clamps that are made of metal.


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## cjshrader (Feb 15, 2007)

Yeah while we're on the topic, are there any zip ties that have metal in them? I need an indestructible zip tie!


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## Dimitrius (Mar 19, 2007)

I've seen that warning on the power cord of nearly every electronic device I've ever purchased, lol.


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## Forensic (Apr 12, 2007)

cjshrader said:


> Yeah while we're on the topic, are there any zip ties that have metal in them? I need an indestructible zip tie!


They do... Stainless steel cable ties. 

Such as these: http://www.buycableties.com/catalog/?pid=103 But you probably wouldn't want 100 of them as they're expensive.


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## cjshrader (Feb 15, 2007)

Yeah, if that's the price we're looking at maybe I'll stick with my $2 wire after all


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## CaptainFlow (May 16, 2007)

Forensic: If you don't live in California you're safe, right? :wink: 

Haha, That's what I thought when I read a similar label on one of my fish chemicals! But hey, I live in Oregon/North Dakota, that's far enough away to not get cancer, right? :roll:


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## Forensic (Apr 12, 2007)

cjshrader said:


> Yeah, if that's the price we're looking at maybe I'll stick with my $2 wire after all


Well, that was just the first one I found. There may be cheaper options.


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## Magicdragon (Sep 20, 2007)

Yeah I thought the comment about not living in California was funny. But on a more serious note, yeah, it probably has lead in it, I'm trying not to touch it all together myself lol. 

So yeah, this brings up a new question.

I didn't see any warning labels. But I bought some hardware metal cloth from the hardware store. Probably safe but is it? And how about the wire that wraps around it to keep it rolled up. I Could use that instead of zip ties... I would imagine that wire is the same material as the mesh... right?


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## cjshrader (Feb 15, 2007)

The mesh should be fine. It should just be galvanized metal, which could soak up urine and get gross but is otherwise safe.

I had the same thought about the binding wire, and personally I bet it's safe. But honestly I wouldn't know for sure


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## Magicdragon (Sep 20, 2007)

The dang mesh is like super hard to unfold, There is no way I can attach a wall with metal wire without the help of my fiance, nevermind the machine that cut the dang wire made the edges super sharp and I have cut myself twice and not even started building it yet.... And no, it's not sharp once I use my own wire cutters so don't have to worry about sliced and diced rats


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## :Ash: (Feb 25, 2007)

It was probably on there because there is lead in the wire or something, I wouldn't use it though. In fact I'd try to safely get rid of it asap.


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