Locksmiths now say 75% of what they use and sell is considered illegal
The state outlawed keys and locks as they contain minute quantities of lead, and children put keys in their mouths.
Brass has always had some lead in it.
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Come July, common keys for houses, cars, boats, and motorcycles will be illegal in Minnesota, save for uncertain intervention from the state Legislature.
That's when the state's ban on the manufacture, sale, or import of keys, toys, dishes, and other common items containing more than a tiny percentage of lead or cadmium goes into effect.
The purpose of that law was to remove dangerous heavy metals from products that come into contact with children. The trouble is that almost all keys sold today have more lead than the new law's 0.09 percent limit on lead content.
Locksmiths have been warning that the state's lead ban will outlaw most of the products they sell. Alternative metals would require lengthy and expensive transition to using less functional materials, they say.
"Approximately 75 percent of all products that we stock have become prohibited for sale," said Rob Justen of Doyle Security Products.
"Aluminum is too brittle," another locksmith told Valley News Live. "It breaks instead of bends, and it's not as easily machined as brass is. The same problem with steel, it rusts and it's much harder to machine."
Lawmakers have proposed a range of fixes, including raising the lead threshold to 1.5 percent for keys (which is California's standard) or, more modestly, delaying the ban for another three years.
