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Lead in Jewelry Products?
Pewter/Base Metal
It is true that most solid pewter on the market today is lead free. However, antique-pewter (AP) items are made from base metal - an alloy that often includes the toxic element lead (Pb). Lead is popular because its softness makes it easy to cast in a mold. Most base-metal beads, charms and findings available, including ours, contain small amounts of lead. As a rule of thumb, if the cast item isn't labeled lead-free, it probably contains lead. This includes antique-pewter, antique-gold, antique-bronze and antique-silver plated items.
Cast metal is perfectly safe to wear. It only becomes a potential hazard if the item is ingested (swallowed or sucked on), especially if the plating has been nicked or has begun to wear off. Do not give children cast metal jewelry if you believe they will put it in their mouth.
Leaded Glass Crystal
Leaded glass pendants are not considered to be harmful. How is that possible? Unlike base-metal alloys that contain lead (Pb), which are mixed with other elements but not chemically combined, the lead oxide used in leaded glass production is a lead compound (PbO). Lead oxide therefore does not react with the body as readily as metallic lead (Pb).
Why doesn't lead oxide (PbO) react with the human body the same way metallic lead (Pb) reacts? Think about hydrogen -- it's explosive, highly combustible! You don't want to light a match anywhere near it. But when you combine hydrogen with oxygen, you get a chemical compound, H2O - good old-fashioned water, which isn't combustible at all. You can drop all the matches you want in it, and it won't explode.
Despite the fact that leaded glass crystal is not hazardous to the wearer, SwarovskiŽ has recently developed lead-free crystals that make rainbows almost as well as the traditional leaded glass crystals. We believe they're coming up with lead-free crystals to eliminate the first step (turning lead into lead oxide) of crystal-making. That way, fewer workers in the world have to use lead, even if they are turning it into a non-toxic lead compound.
What about other metals?
All of the following metals are lead free or have a very low lead content, because by definition, they are comprised of metals other than lead.
- Sterling silver = 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper
- Brass = an alloy of copper and zinc, the percentages of which will vary according to desired color or hardness. Our red brass wire is 90% copper and 10% zinc. Yellower brass would have less copper, and more zinc.
- Nickel silver = a silver-colored alloy containing nickel (surprise!). It is often called German silver. Nickel silver has no actual silver in it, despite its silver color. Elemental nickel by itself is too hard to work with for most jewelry purposes. Copper and zinc are added to make it softer. Our nickel silver wire is an alloy of 65% copper, 18% nickel and 17% zinc.
- Gold = no lead, but the exact metal alloy depends on the karatage and color. 24kt is pure elemental gold and very soft. 10kt, 12kt, 14kt and 18kt gold are alloys of gold with other metals to make the gold harder (and less expensive). If you are familiar with Black Hills gold, you have seen rose gold (with extra copper), green gold (with extra zinc) and white gold (with nickel). Many metal-working books will tell you the exact amounts of each metal that go into the various colors and karatages of gold.
- Titanium = 99.9% titanium. It is an element on the periodic table (Ti), just like pure lead, copper and gold. It may contain some slight impurities (that's why we didn't say 100%).
- Niobium = 99.9% niobium. It is also an element on the periodic table (Nb).
- Copper-clad steel is a common base for plated findings. Steel is tough, but silver and gold platings don't stick to it very well. Therefore, it is commonly clad with copper, to which the other platings will stick. Steel does not contain lead, although it usually contains about 8% nickel, to which some people are allergic (particularly in their ears). We carry a range of nickel-free items for people with this allergy.
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