* Lead in Mini-Blinds Alert *
 
While scanning thru several issues of this week's FML, I noticed somebody
mentioned a ferret playing in mini-blinds, which in turn reminded me that
there was a question on the FML a few weeks ago, about whether the lead in
mini-blinds can pose a danger to ferrets.  Well, the word is out on leaded
mini-blinds.  This week the federal government (I forgot the exact agency)
issued a general health alert concerning imported mini-blinds that contain
lead in their paint and/or coating.  The verdict is that, much like lead
paint, leaded mini-blinds pose serious health hazards to children under 6,
with the gravest danger being developmental and mental retardation, as well
as life-long learning disabilities.
 
Apparently, lead-treated mini-blinds are dangerous, because the paint or
coating will decay over time (exposure to sunlight and temperature
variations), leaving a layer of dust on the blinds with concentrations of
lead so high the dust poses a danger to young children who touch, ingest or
inhale it.
 
Personally, I don't take heavy metals lightly.  Breathing lead dust is
probably bad for all of us, under 6 or not, and it is most likely not a good
thing for ferrets and other pets either.
 
The federal health alert recommended replacing leaded mini-blind with
non-leaded ones immediately, if young children can come in contact with
them.  Most home improvement and builder's discount stores have already
removed them from shelves, and are waiting for replacements manufactured
without lead.
 
How can you tell if your mini-blinds are leaded?  If they are imported from
China, Taiwan or Korea (and almost all mini-blinds in this country are
imported) they are almost certainly leaded.  In fact, the health-alert came
on the heels of an import ban of leaded mini-blinds from these countries.
If they were cheap ($6-$10) and you bought them at a big chain store
(HomeBase, Builder's Emporium etc.) they were almost certainly imported and
therefore leaded.  If you're not sure, you can always get one of those home
lead testing kits that were developed after the lead paint dust scare.  But
they tend to be so expensive you may just want to replace your mini-blinds
with non-leaded ones instead.  The new blinds will still be cheap, even
though non- leaded ones are expected to be 20% more expensive than the old
ones.  They will still be imported, by the way.  The manufacturing countries
responded quickly to the U.S.  import ban and changed to a non-leaded
production formula.
 
I've never like those mini-blinds, anyway, preferring instead blinds made of
Japanese rice-paper type material or bamboo.  Which brings me, finally, to a
Funny Ferret Story:
 
We have a sectioned picture window in the living room, about 5x7 feet, which
is covered most of the time with a bamboo-slat blind.  When our female
sable, Pixel, was still a kit, she surprised us by scaling a nearby book
shelf, from where she leapt onto the bamboo blind about 3 feet from the
floor, and proceeded to climb up all the way to the top, quickly and
determined, without looking back or hesitating.  As if she *knew* where she
was going.  Once she began to try to climb back down, however, butt first,
it became obvious she wasn't sure how she got there or how to get back down.
We rescued her from her perch and padded the floor below the blind, just in
case she decided to go climbing again when an anxious human wasn't watching
and waiting to catch her.  But, as far as we can tell, she has never done
that again, even though she did climb a 7-foot window screen, twice, shortly
thereafter.  Once, we managed to act fast enough and take a picture, which
we whip out whenever someone tries to tell us that "ferrets can't climb".
 
Pixel has been an adult for almost a year now, and has not since engaged in
any spectacular window or screen climbing Olympic trials, even though she
will occasionally scamper up a tilted tree trunk or branch in the park,
where she delights in upsetting the local mockingbird, blackbird and crow
population.  Pixel has been strafed and dive-bombed by both mockingbirds and
blackbirds and has attracted the attention of flocks of 4-5 crows who
sometimes follow her around on her walks, cawing and agitating all the way.
 
Claudia
[Posted in FML issue 1617]