elkcub
Silicon Valley, California
Is THIS what you're looking for?The issue at large is less that California has a warning and more that there is no wider warning and that this is not stated up front in some cases. The risk may be small to some people but it has been found that phthalates can cause cancer, if I remember correctly (I cannot find a link to the source) particularly in children and adult reproductive system. That is not a debatable point, although how to manage it is debatable. Given a choice between two levels of risk with all other things being equal I would choose the lower level becasue... it would be foolish not to select the safer option when all other things are equal.
Complicating the matter is the fact that before this health risk was discovered phthalates were ubiquitous; linoleum and other synthetic floor tiles in almost every major institution including and especially hospitals, as well as domestic kitchens and bathrooms and so many things during the plastic generation. It's understandable that widespread adaptation to this new information about the risk might be slow but that does start with these warnings which I IMO are not yet sufficient enough. We've learned not to stare into the sun with the naked eye, we can handle this.
The warnings on binoculars are arguably more about product liability protection for the manufacturers and distributors than protecting customers. Otherwise, they wouldn't sell the products in the first place, would they?
Ed