If asbestos was discovered today we'd likely use the hell out of it because we'd know it causes cancer ahead of time and we'd take precautions (like not building it into things likely to release dust) the same way we do with all sorts of crazy molecules that get used in modern chemicals. It would be in your Ove Glove, not in your floor tiles. Tons of people wouldn't get cancer (because we wouldn't release the dust everywhere) and it would never be able to become a BadThing(TM) in the public's mind. It would just be another boring industrial compound nobody knows about. Same goes for lead paint.
If any of the people who disagree would like to share why that would be great.
>Would people buy oven gloves that had to be treated as hazardous waste?
You kind of answered your own question with the reference to e-waste. If the product confers some benefit and isn't hazardous in the form in which the users will use it then people will have no problem buying it.
>Where would you see this being used?
Things that very cost sensitive and aren't gonna see much human contact and will almost certainly enter a recycling stream before the paint wears off. 55gal drums come to mind.
Perfectly good oven gloves are already available, though, and they don't have a hazardous waste disposal charge tacked on. You also don't have to call in specialists to decontaminate the kitchen if you damage one.
> Things that very cost sensitive and aren't gonna see much human contact and will almost certainly enter a recycling stream before the paint wears off. 55gal drums come to mind.
People work around those all day. And lead wasn't added to paint to make it cheap, it was added mostly to increase durability. So you probably don't really want it for short-lived products.
If any of the people who disagree would like to share why that would be great.