Come July, Keys Will Be De Facto Illegal In Minnesota
The vast majority of keys on the market contain more lead than is allowed by the state's strict new heavy metal standards.
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.
But a legislative fix is not locked in yet.
Supporters of the lead ban argue that weakening the standards for keys undermines the law's purpose of protecting children from harm.
"As parents know, kids put keys in their mouth," Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL–South St. Paul), the author of the lead ban, told Axios in April.
So, should you end up locked out of your house or car in Minnesota's frigid winter, you can rest easy knowing that the legislature is saving you from incidental lead exposure.
