jjutten Posted December 23, 2012 Hello! I saw a posting from you somewhere regarding cadmium in old legos. Do you know what year Lego actually stopped making bricks with cadmium? I read a post that they were supposed to in 73 but i read a recent article in a book on toxins that showed results from a test on 1979 bricks that contained insane amounts of cadmium and some results showing no cadmium in 1984 bricks. My son has recenly been playing with my vintage sets the oldest of which is a beta one command base probably 1982. Also, is it for sure only the yellow and red bricks? How about the gray bricks and the white bricks? Also I would like to read your chapter on cadmium but can't find your large download... thanks for your help! J Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LEGO Historian Posted December 23, 2012 (edited) Hi, thanks for your inquiry. The chapter in my LEGO DVD/download that talks about Cadmium is "Chapter 60 - The LEGO Plastics Cellulose Acetate & ABS". Not much information has ever been given out by TLG in regards to the switch from LEGO "with" Cadmium to LEGO without it, except that TLG switched over to Cadmium free LEGO in 1973. However, that doesn't really say a lot. Just look at the switch from old gray to new gray that started in 2003. It took many years for the switch to be complete (old gray elements were still found in LEGO sets for many years). So a 1973 switchover likely only means that the Bayer Corporation stopped sending TLG red and yellow plastic pellets. As for what was still in the TLG inventory.... my guess would be that it continued to find its' way into LEGO sets for several years until the supply of old red/yellow pellets was finally depleted. After all TLG is known to NEVER throw anything away! And yes... it was only red and yellow parts that contained cadmium (according to TLG)... because those were the most difficult part colors for the Bayer Corporation (the makers of the ABS plastic used by TLG) to produce. From what I've been told no other LEGO colors had it. Also from TLG... the major reason for the switch was that eventually cadmium laced LEGO would find its' way into landfills. Supposedly due to the structure of ABS plastic.... Cadmium would not leech out of the plastic, and that if a child chewed on LEGO parts, it still would not leach out. Since the official TLG information on the use of Cadmium in 1963-70s LEGO is not plentiful, nor is it alarming, I mention the switchover at the end of Chapter 60. Red and yellow ABS plastic was darker for older LEGO parts before the switchover. This is especially apparent in the red colored LEGO. One other thing... Britain/Ireland/Australia sold LEGO under license from TLG via British LEGO Ltd., a Courtauld's Corp. subsidiary (Courtauld's is a UK chemical/textile maker). And in Canada Samsonite was the licensee for LEGO products. So a 1973 switchover date by TLG Denmark doesn't necessarily guarantee the same year switchover in those other countries. Also 1973 was the year that Samsonite lost its' license to sell LEGO in the USA, so all USA LEGO would follow the LEGO Denmark switchover. My brother-in-law's brother-in-law is a chemical engineer whom I will see on Christmas Eve. I will ask him many questions about any other potential hazards of Cadmium laced LEGO... but I remember mentioning it in the past, and he didn't seem to think it was a concern, due to the nature of ABS plastic. My LEGO DVD/download can be obtained in the Eurobricks Buy-Sell-Trade forum section under "Bazaar". Right now I'm offering a special on the download (only takes 6-15 minutes to download all 688MB of data, 2,800 pages). Edited December 23, 2012 by LEGO Historian Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jjutten Posted December 24, 2012 (edited) Hello Lego Historian! Thanks so much for your reply and interest in my topic! Here is an interesting bit of info on the topic that I was able to dig up. It fits what you stated that the switchover in 1973 by Denmark might not have pertained to the British chemical company! TOXIC METAL MYSTERY & LEGO (September 1981) The Greenpeace (London) has just produced a factsheet About the toxic metal Cadmium, and its uses in everyday household articles. The factsheet ' The Yelow Peril : Cadmium in Lego and Household articles' is based upon research done in germany and published in the German magazine Neugier (April/May 1983). The factsheet shows how many household plastic articles such as writing utensils, toothbrushes and toys, contain Cadmium; this is particularly true of red and yellow coloured items. The article also revealed that, amongst those products tested and found to contain Cadmium, was Lego. This is interesting, as Lego UK claim that the use of Cadmium in the manufaturing of their products was elimninated five years ago! Even if no more Cadmium is found in recently produced Lego, these toys manufactured six or more years ago are more likely to be still in use: Lego, like many other plastic items, remains functional for a long time. Regardless of when they are produced, the existence of toys and other household articles with cadmium in them is a matter of grave concern, and any item which is known, or strongly suspected, to contain the substance should be withdrawn immediately. Furthermore, detailed investigative research obviously needs to be done in order to ascertain the full extent of the problem. -Yesterday my son and I restored a 1983 Galaxy Commander that we found in Grandmas attic. It was in the original box with the original instructions! As you stated the box says Denmark right on the side. Interestingly it also says, "Conforms to PS 72-76". I wonder if this has anything to do with cadmium? I compared the red astronaut in the Galaxy Commander, to a red astronaut from the Beta One Command base to a red knight from my Kings Castle and a new red mini-figure, all were very close in color and I am a professional auto painter so I know color. Do you have any of the red legos that definately contain cadmium? How much darker are they? What do they look like? I am curious... Also concerning cadmium itself. Being an auto painter and restorer of classic cars I have become somewhat of an expert on environmental toxins, or maybe just a paranoid crackpot in an effort to protect myself and family. Cadmium is definately one of the most toxic elements on earth, my friend Roger was poisoned by cadmium and lost the function of his kidneys in his late 20s and it now bed ridden and on dialysis in his 40s!! The bricks in the 1979 set spin tested, contained 7000 parts per million and the acceptable limit for cadmium in the body is less than 3 parts per billion!!! Definately does not belong in a kids mouth, the chemical company was trying to protect itself... n uploaded pic of Galaxy Commander! Check it out! J Edited December 24, 2012 by jjutten Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LEGO Historian Posted December 24, 2012 (edited) There should be no possibility of any Cadmium in that set. Transparent LEGO parts are NOT made of ABS plastic. ABS in its' natural state is sort of a milky white color, so it is not suitable for trans colored parts. Trans-clear and all the trans colors are made of Polycarbonate, a different plastic. From 1949-63 TLG used Cellulose Acetate plastic to make LEGO parts, including clear parts. But that was not possible with ABS plastic, hence the switch to Polycarbonate for trans colored parts. The color difference between Cadmium and non-Cadmium parts is so slight, that my camera cannot detect a difference. But any of the classic LEGO windows in red with a "long ledge" have Cadmium (except for the earlier orange-red colored Cellulose Acetate ones). Edited December 24, 2012 by LEGO Historian Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jjutten Posted December 24, 2012 Thanks for the reply Lego Historian! If the sets have transparent parts, which I believe all of my old ones do, then does that mean the entire set is made of polycarbonate and not ABS? Or are only the tranparent parts made of polycarbonate? Hope you like the Galaxy Commander! We are only missing 5 original parts which we hope to find later! J Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LEGO Historian Posted December 24, 2012 (edited) No, only the Transparent parts are Polycarbonate... the rest are ABS plastic... but by 1980s.... all elements should be Cadmium free ABS. And since there are no yellow or red "non-transparent" parts to that set, you should be OK. Also, I know you are very cautious due to your acquaintance and his situation with Cadmium poisoning... but I know of no LEGO related health issues... and I'm sure that if there were... in our litigious society today there would have been a class action lawsuit directed at TLG.... which there is none that I know of. Have a safe Holiday, and enjoy your wonderful nostalgic set! Edited December 24, 2012 by LEGO Historian Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
