Disneyland Sued Over Minnie Mouse's Door Knobs

By Justin Shady Wed., Oct. 19 2011 at 9:00 AM

Admit it, you're intrigued.

Have all of your questions answered after the jump.
The Associated Press is reporting that the Mateel Environmental Justice Foundation (MEJF), a nonprofit group who has filed numerous environmental lawsuits against corporations in the past, sued the corporate owners of the Disneyland theme park this past April.

Don't lick her door knobs, kids!

Their claim? That Disneyland is exposing the children in the park to high levels of lead. The culprits? Mateel claims that the stained glass windows in Cinderella's Castle and the brass door knobs in Minnie's House in Toontown, among other items around the park, contain high levels of lead.

If you ask me, the lead in the Minnie's door knobs (dirty) is the least of my worries! I'm more worried about the snot, spit and... ugh... feces that's spread across every surface in the park. Seriously, the world is covered in filth!

The Los Angeles Times reports that Mateel is seeking a court injunction today that would require Disneyland to cover the items in question or post health warnings. Disney has denied Mateel's allegations and spokeswoman Suzi Brown says they are in full compliance with the state law's requirement for signage.

Bring some wet wipes.

Personally, I think Mateel should be conducting a few swab tests on the seats of the Mad Tea Party tea cups. Gross.

Stay tuned for updates. Or just go and enjoy the park knowing that everything around you, in Disneyland or otherwise, is slowly killing you. Because, in reality, the fish sticks at the Golden Horseshoe are probably worse for you.

NOTE: This article was amended on 10/21/11 at 1:03 PM (PST) for an error that quoted a mission statement from the UK-based Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF). The EJF is in no way affiliated with the Eureka, California-based Mateel Environmental Justice Foundation.

Tags:

Disneyland, lawsuit, lead, Mateel Environmental Justice Foundation, Minnie Mouse's door knobs

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Tom T

Go to the California Charity web site and you can see that Matell is delinquent

Organization NameRegistration NumberRecord TypeRegistration StatusCityStateRegistration TypeRecord TypeMATEEL ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE FOUNDATION098000CharityDelinquentEUREKACACharity RegistrationCharity1

Ralph Warner

Gee, I guess it sucks to be me. For the last forty something years, I've handled lead regularly in the form of weight belts for scuba diving, ammunition for my firearms, lead weights for fishing, and solder for my electronics projects. Now on top of that I'm exposed to lead at Disney. Dang, when am I going to keel over and die from all of this lead exposure ?

Here's an article that should put people's minds at ease. Understand that I'm not saying that lead isn't poisonous if exposed to enough of it, I'm simply saying that you're exposed to more lead everyday than what you could be exposed to while visiting Disney with a premium AP. Here are some excerpts from the article.

"Lead is a naturally occurring bluish-gray metal found in small amounts in the earth's crust."

"Lead occurs naturally in the environment."

"The levels of lead may build up in plants and animals from areas where air, water, or soil are contaminated with lead. If animals eat contaminated plants or animals, most of the lead that they eat will pass through their bodies."

"Foods such as fruits, vegetables, meats, grains, seafood, soft drinks, and wine may have lead in them."

"Skin contact with dust and dirt containing lead occurs every day. Some cosmetics and hair dyes contain lead compounds. However, not much lead can get into your body through your skin."

"We have no proof that lead causes cancer in humans. Kidney tumors have developed in rats and mice given large doses of lead. The animal studies have been criticized because of the very high doses used. The results of high-dose studies should not be used to predict whether lead may cause cancer in humans. The Department of Health and Human Services has determined that lead acetate and lead phosphate may reasonably be anticipated to be capable of causing cancer, based on sufficient evidence from animal studies, but there is inadequate evidence from human studies."

http://www.eco-usa.net/toxics/...

So when you think about it, the Prop 65 notification is one big DUH. Attempting to actually eliminate lead exposure would be an exercise in futility when you consider the facts.

Mateel is a predatory organization and conveniently leaves out these facts.

jamie

Why dont they just cover the stupid knobs and drop the law suit. At the end of the day I want my kid safe but they dont need legal problems. I agree that the crappy food they serve is most likely worse than the knobs

Bill T.

No indication in the story whether they made the allegation as a result of any actual reason. Gratuitous CYA costs us all in the not so long run. Zero risk in this world is a pipe dream subscribed to by too many people.

WilliamJohnston

This is so much bull droppings. I am tired of hearing about this type of lawsuits from Mateel Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF and their ilk )I wish that they would go hide in the wood work ...... where like roaches they only come out at night and the exterminator can remove them for the premises

Claire Davies

Justin, if you did a clever bit of research as I just did, think you'll find that the UK/London-based non-profit Environmental Justice Foundation is a totally separate, totally unrelated organisation to the Mateel Environmental Justice Foundation, a US-based not-for-profit based in Eureka who filed the lawsuit. So you quoting from EJF's website is totally inaccurate - guess you might want to check your facts and edit the article

Shady

I loved you in "Temple Grandin."

WavSoo

This makes a lot of sense dude, seriously mananon-web.es.tc

Jason Miller

I picked a bad time to stop sucking on door knobs.

Dorf

wait, now it's cinderella's castle? did sleeping beauty get foreclosed on? yuk yuk yuk

Shady

Shit, my bad. I get all of my princess castles mixed up.

Kimelf71

Sounds like a good racket. Start a "charity" and find reasons to sue people. People who suffered because of someone else get $1.50 of the Disney lawsuit money, the Charity get's the Lion's share and the rest of us pay $10.00 more at the door to go to Disneyland.

BillE

Swabbing Minnie's doorknops? Have they swabbed Mickey's brass balls yet? If not that's blatant sexism...

FishWithoutBicycle

I admit, I thought "doorknobs" was a euphemism for breasts. (yes, this lady is a perv...) :-D

909Jeff

Pardon my language... Fuck you and go away ambulance chaser!

Augie

How thoughtful 909Jeff. Yup, trashing lawyers is way cooler than removing door knobs that have lots of lead in them that are grabbed by thousands of children a day. Sounds like you've been sucking on lead door knobs and incurred the brain damage that lead poisoning causes.