It's not what they warn you against that you should be worried about. It s what they don't that will kill you. Try buying anything in California. The warnings here will scare you to death if you take them seriously. I don't. The amount of lead you will absorb from a plastic cable is well, non-existent and the lead warning comes from the solder they attach the wires to the plug inside the plastic housing of the plug. Don't chew on the cable, don't cut the plug off, don't burn the cable with the iron, and you will be fine.
I found the cheap Black and Decker iron to be not hot enough. I find auto off systems on irons to be a pain but I do understand why they use them. And we have no thunderstorms here in Silicon Valley so nothing ever gets unplugged. I do remember the days of unplugging all electronics when I lived on the east coast. What a pain but necessary.
tim in san jose