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.

Why on earth am I seeing this on a consumer product? And what is the chemical? From what I’ve found so far, it seems that the product may contain a small amount of lead. Apparently, the State of California requires clear and reasonable warnings on products containing chemicals that have been shown to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm. Even if these products contain only trace levels of harmful chemicals, a warning is required by the State of California.

By the way, I found this warning all over the Creative USB Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1. I got it to hook up my laptop to my existing 5.1 speaker system. As always, I’m impressed with the sound quality of Creative products. However, I can’t say the same for their software. Let’s just say there’s definitely room for improvement.