The leaching of toxic metals from Calstar's fly ash bricks has been confirmed. The data is at: http://calstarproducts.com/resources/gradient-memorandum/ As suspected, fly ash bricks leach toxic metals – the data shows that even with EPAs very liberal leaching tests, metals including arsenic, antimony, beryllium, cadmium, lead, manganese, mercury and nickel rapidly leach from the bricks within just a few hours. The results show that in the case of Arsenic (a listed Carcinogen) –a staggering 800 ug of Arsenic will leach from one brick in one month – or almost 10 mg of arsenic per brick per year. This is enough arsenic to poison over 250 gallons of water. One brick. How about the toxic ****tail of other metals that leach from Calstar’s bricks – beryllium, cadmium, copper, lead, manganese, mercury, nickel and thallium? Over 2 grams of toxic metals will leach from one brick, with the potential to poison over 1,000 GALLONS of water. One brick. Calstar - the toxic brick company.

Where is Calstar’s Product Warranty for their fly ash bricks? Calstar is claiming a “brick” product that is better than clay brick, so it must have a better warranty? Clay bricks have lifetime or 100 year warranties. So where is Calstar’s warranty? No sign of it anywhere. No mention of a warranty or any sort of product guarantee. Maybe there is no warranty because, in the words of Calstar’s Product Manager – Julie Rapoport, their brick is a “a prototype product that has not been field tested over an extended period” (this from (http://calstarproducts.com/wp-content/themes/default/pdf/ConstructionSpecifier_0809.pdf). Since Calstar just started production in February, I guess that Rapoport’s idea of “extended period” is anything over one month. So no product warranty for Calstar’s “Green” and “Eco-friendly” fly ash bricks? Can Calstar provide any sort of warranty for their product? A warranty that it will not fade, flake, effloresce.? A warranty that it will not leach toxic metals? A warranty that it will not poison people or the environment? A warranty that it will not crumble into dust after the first frost? Any warranty? Anything? 10 years? 1 year? No warranty from Calstar? So what does the builder do? What does the homeowner do? Oh, of course, there is no warranty for a experimental “prototype product”! Use Calstar’s fly ash bricks at your own risk! No implied product warranty! Here is a question for Calstar’s Product Manager – Julie Rapoport. Where is the product warranty to back up all of your unproven performance claims for your “prototype” product? And the response from Calstar's Product Manager – to quote: “100-year warranty? Haven’t you read? The world is coming to an end in 2012?. Calstar – the Greenwash Brick company.

The defection of top management from Calstar continues. Jim Greer, the VP of Finance has left Calstar. This follows the departure of the Director of Research, the CEO, and the Director of Marketing. More evidence that Calstar is a Greenwash.