Children’s Jewelry Warning

It was just reported by several news agencies that the United States has identified Asian manufacturers are substituting other toxins for lead in children’s jewelry. Parents should be outraged that manufacturers are turning away from the efforts to protect our children and seeking new toxins to poison our children.

One article from the  SunHerald identifies some pieces of the Princess and the Frog Jewelry Collection which contain the dangerous heavy metal cadmium. Centers for Disease (CDC) lists this metal as number 7 on the list of most hazardous materials-and manufacturers are including it in children’s jewelry.

According to Taiwan News,  “Lab tests conducted for the AP on 103 pieces of low-priced children’s jewelry found 12 items with cadmium content above 10 percent of the total weight. Some were as much as 90 percent cadmium.“

Test results show:

• Three flip flop bracelet charms sold at Walmart contained between 84 and 86 percent cadmium. The charms fared the worst of any item on the stomach acid test; one shed more cadmium in 24 hours than what World Health Organization guidelines deem a safe exposure over 60 weeks for a 33-pound child.

• Four charms from two “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” bracelets sold at a Dollar N More store in Rochester, N.Y., were measured at between 82 and 91 percent cadmium. The charms also fared poorly on the stomach acid test. Two other charms from the same bracelets were subjected to a leaching test which recreates how much cadmium would be released in a landfill and ultimately contaminate groundwater. Based on those results, if the charms were waste from manufacturing, they would have had to be specially handled and disposed of under U.S. environmental law. The company that imported the Rudolph charms, Buy-Rite Designs, Inc. of Freehold, N.J., has gone out of business.

• Two charms on a “Best Friends” bracelet bought at Claire’s, a jewelry chain with nearly 3,000 stores in North America and Europe, consisted of 89 and 91 percent cadmium. The charms also leached alarming amounts in the simulated stomach test. Informed of the results, Claire’s issued a statement pointing out that children’s jewelry is not required to pass a cadmium leaching test.

• Pendants from four “The Princess and The Frog” necklaces bought at Walmart ranged between 25 and 35 percent cadmium, though none failed the stomach acid test nor the landfill leaching test. The Walt Disney Co., which produced the popular animated movie, said in a statement that test results provided by the manufacturer, Rhode Island-based FAF Inc., showed the item complied with all applicable safety standards.

Source:  sphere.com

Please read the full article for more information on this important subject. Be warned that although stores are recalling the dangerous jewelry, many are being sold on popular sites such as eBay. To follow childrens jewelry recalls from the US government, please visit the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) website.

More Articles on Dangerous Jewelry for Children

US Agency Goes After Cadmium in Childrens Jewelry

Parents Find Out Charms Can Be Harmful

US Senator Presses to Ban Cadmium in Kids Jewelry (Taiwan News)

CDC ToxFAQ for Cadmium

Author Christine Smith is the mother of two daughters and a custom jewelry designer from California. She does NOT create beaded jewelry for children, since beaded jewelry is a choking hazard and should not be worn by children.