...and the bismuth is very, very expensive.
Just use this instead......
Posted on 09/03/2008 7:24:07 AM PDT by Red Badger
Tire companies, big box stores, and the government are putting the brakes on the use of lead wheel weights. Through EPA's National Lead-Free Wheel Weight Initiative, partners have agreed to phase-in the use of lead-free alternative wheel weights and reduce the amount of lead released into the environment by 2011.
"Our partners have pledged to reduce or eliminate their use of lead wheel weights," said Susan Parker Bodine, assistant administrator of EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. "Their efforts will remove millions of pounds of lead from the environment and the waste stream."
Eliminating lead wheel weights is a significant step toward reducing the overall amount of lead released into the environment. EPA estimates that 50 million pounds of lead per year are used for wheel weights in cars and light trucks. It is common for wheel weights to come off when a vehicle hits a pothole in the road or stops suddenly, which results in lead entering the environment. Lead-containing wheel weights also add lead into the environment as they move into the waste stream at the end of product life.
The charter members include Firestone Complete Auto Care; Firestone Racing (a division of Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire); Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.; Costco Wholesale; Wal-Mart Tire and Lube Express; Sam's Club Tire and Battery Centers; Wal-Mart Transportation; Hennessy Industries Inc.-BADA Division; Perfect Equipment; 3M Automotive Division; the U.S. Air Force; U.S. Postal Service; General Services Administration; Ford Motor Co.; General Motors Corp.; Chrysler; Plombco; the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers; the Town of Blacksburg, Virginia; the Ecology Center; Sierra Club; the Environmental Council of States and several small businesses.
For more information, visit www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/minimize/nlfwwi.htm
FROM MY COLD, DEAD, WET HANDS!..........
But you don't know what the cost is. But, then again, neither do I. If lead is a hazard, why not try to come up with a reasonable substitute?
National EPA-free initiative needed.
...and the bismuth is very, very expensive.
Just use this instead......
I'm not a fisherman, but I believe lead sinkers are illegal in NH.
I believe the law was signed by one of our recent lib governors (Shaheen), but what's the big deal? Won't a steel sinker sink just as well? Evidently so - folks still fish up here.
just use this instead...
I use that stuff after I eat those nasty a*s geese.
There are already a number of alternatives to lead weights. There are powder, bead and liquid balancers that many would argue are better than a dead weight affixed to the rim. The internal balancing agents adjust as the tire wears using a very predictable force in the universe; centrifugal force.
Do you know a lot about geese and ducks? It seems we have some cross bred birds at a lake near here. They appear to be a cross between a familiar gray goose male and a Muscovy female duck. Is this possible?......
So, now you'll be paying about $5 for a wheel weight made of Tungsten or Bismuth instead of $.05
don’t know
Not in the least cost effective.
While there will be some tiny benefit there is also a real expense. The alternatives are less desirable, or the market would embrace them without government compunction.
The “dollars per life saved” is probably in the billions. (Nuclear power plants have these kind of costs imposed on them routinely, which is one of the reasons that nuclear is expensive as it is.)
The argument that it is worth it, even if it saves a single life is specious. Money is life. Longevity correlates strongly with prosperity. We may not be able to identify how a particular life is saved, but every dollar left in the productive economy lowers mortality, taking them out raises it. This will almost undoubtly cost more lives than it saves.
NO! NO! There goes my suppliers of cheap lead for casting bullets!
I guess I will have to tap into my supply of X-Ray lead shielding for bullets.
Maybe it's not evironmental issues that they are really concerned about, but rather the ability of millions to "roll their own" ammunition?
I suspect this is true. Gun Control by restricting supply of lead..........................
Well enough maybe, but not "just as well". Besides, steel rusts, lead doesn't (appreciably anyway, it does some, which why your nice shiny sinkers get dull after a bit of use).
Somebody is looking for ways to prevent the home manufacture of ammunition. Looks like they found it.
Around here the local CO carries a magnet with him during waterfowl season. If he can’t pick up your shell you are in deep do-do.
Since I hunt on my own lake on my own property I haven’t figured out if that ban applies to me or not, so I just ignore it and use lead also.
Thrift stores are your friend... :)
Oh, this new extension of my favorite hobby has already turned me into a thrift store junkie. A good part of my smelting setup is "vintage".
I had read a little about using pewter, but I haven't come across any just yet. Thanks for the reminder. I'll keep my eyes peeled.
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