WARNING: Handling this product may expose you to chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. Wash hands after handling.

This is what you're greeted with when unpacking a Creative Zen. Having interacted with players from other companies, as well as other types of portable equipment - I must say that this is the first time I bump into such a warning. Naturally, I'm wary.

Why is it there? Should I be worried? Judging by feedback from Creative, the label is there "just in case", and the device itself will not cause any harm. But... If it won't, why place the warning there at all?

From: Someone at Creative
To: Alex

Our apologies, that passage was inadvertently placed into the Zen
documentation. There are no cables in the Zen package that contain any
traces of lead that would fall under California's Safe Drinking Water
and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986.

Therefore we would like to assure you that there is no harmful side
effects when using our Creative products.

1. "There are no cables ..." - do you also mean there are no harmful substances in the device itself?
2. "... the Zen package ..." - again, do you refer to the plastic cover or to the actual device?

From: Someone else at Creative
To: Alex

With regard to your reply, this warning has been included to comply with
Californian legislation (Proposition 65) as the cable bundled with your
device contains a very small amount of lead to keep the copper wire and
plastic cable more malleable.

This cable design is very common and used in practically all household
appliances. In our testing the average lead content of our cables is
between 100 and 300 parts per million (ppm), significantly lower than in
many household appliances at 1000 ppm.

The state that my colleague mean was the cable that is included in the
Zen packaging does not contain any harmful substances.

As you can see, there is a minor contradiction between the replies obtained from different people at Creative. Either there are no harmful substances there, or they are present in quantities that are below the harmful levels. If they are honest, no worries. But are they?

p.s. The warning is also placed on other devices from Creative.