New Lead Laws Affect Children’s Jewelry

[Russ Nobbs]

In December 2009 there were some substantial changes in the way the CPSIA will affect crafters.

1) The mandatory testing is again postponed for another year. It is now set to go into effect Feb 10, 2011.

2) Some of the  CPSC commissioners are arguing for reform of the law as it is currently written.

Here are some links that give a lot more details that I have room for here:


12/19/2009 sit, stay, http://nancynord.wordpress.com/2009/12/17/sit-stay/ Where Commissioner Nancy Nord says
"Last but not least, it is important to note that our action extending the stay for lead content comports to the Congressional direction recently given us to minimize the burdens imposed on small businesses especially with respect to the enforcement of the lead provisions of the CPSIA.  The entire commission is directed to come forward with suggested changes to make the CPSIA work better. Keeping the stay in place is in keeping with Congressional direction, and is keeping further unnecessary chaos from implementation of the CPSIA."

Her blog has other valuable insights into the chaos created by the CPSIA law.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703478704574612573263963560.html

CPSIA - How Important is Testing After All? http://learningresourcesinc.blogspot.com/2009/12/cpsia-how-important-is-testing-after.html

http://www.mjsa.org/publications_and_information/mjsa_journal/lowering_lead

[Barbara]

wow, i never knew about this law,,,,makes me wonder if i should somehow input these classes on my jewelry beads also, how would we know if its safe or not?
the site is http://www.snazzycat.com
thanks for the info

[Russ Nobbs]

Under CPSIA rules children's jewelry must be tested by an outside lab as described in the posts in this thread.

At this time only California and Illinois have rules about lead levels for adult jewelery. Our class system answers the questions about our components based on California standards.

Are you making jewelry for children (younger than 13)  or for adults?

Edited to add the over looked Illinois law that is now in effect.

[Russ Nobbs]

Yesterday a report surfaced that some children's jewelry was contaminated with cadmium.

See http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/01/10/national/a112217S13.DTL for one report.
See http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100111/ap_on_he_me/us_cadmium_jewelry  for one of the earliest  reports that showed up on the web.

Cadmium seems an odd choice to use for making cast items. True, it is not lead. The preferred choices for white metal castings are Tin and Zinc.
Tin and antimony are used for pewter. (Tierracast in the US uses the food safe  tin / antimony alloy called "Britannia Metal.") We've asked for our Chinese castings to be made from Zinc with no lead and no nickel content.

The relative prices for these metals makes Cadmium an odd choice to use for inexpensive castings as it is 10 times more expensive than lead or zinc. (I hear rumors of cadmium used to produce sterling silver that was below sterling standards. That adulteration makes sense from a cost standpoint for sterling silver but not for cheap white metal castings.)

Current market prices for these metals (in USD) are in these ranges:
Lead   1.17 a pound
Zinc  1.18 /lb
Tin    8.10 /lb
Cadmium 12.00 /lb

[Russ Nobbs]

We've started to get results from products tested for Cadmium. So far, very tiny trace amounts, in 3 out of 4 items, below the testing limits, less than 16 ppm (or 0.0016%) and one at 19 ppm or (0.0019%.)

Children's jewelry sellers in Illinois now have a new law to consider. According to a message from MJSA the new amendment to the Illinois Lead Poisoning Prevention Act went into effect Jan 1, 2010. Illinois lawmakers do not consider that their more restrictive law is preempted by the CPISA.

The release from the MJSA says the Illinois law requires a stiff warning label on children's jewelry that contains less than 300 parts per million (ppm) of lead content, as mandated by the CPSIA, but more than 40 ppm. The language of the warning would read: "WARNING: CONTAINS LEAD. MAY BE HARMFUL IF EATEN OR CHEWED. MAY GENERATE DUST CONTAINING LEAD." Thus, if a jewelry supplier wants to sell into Illinois without using the label, it needs to obtain a test affirming its products meet the 40 ppm limit.
 
To reassure skittish consumers of children's jewelry that their products are safe, Illinois retailers may even require precious metal jewelry suppliers to use lab testing to affirm their goods are under 40 ppm. That's despite the fact that such jewelry is exempt from CPSIA testing and certification, and for good reason: Precious metal jewelry cannot contain more than about 30 ppm of lead, otherwise manufacturers could encounter such problems as cracking in karat gold. Consequently, precious jewelry manufacturers are vigilant in avoiding lead contamination.

The full release is available from  MJSA.org.  You may be able to see it at http://bit.ly/7Abfh0

[Russ Nobbs]

I started this thread in June of 2008, not realizing that my own state of Washington was in the process of passing one of the strictest laws controlling lead and cadmium in children's products. The law is now in effect.

According to an April 2008 Seattle PI article the limits in Washington State are now:
* Limit total lead to 90 parts per million by July 1, 2009, 40 ppm by July 1, 2010, if achievable.
(Federal standards limit the lead in surface paint on toys to 600 ppm)
* Limit total cadmium to 40 ppm by July 1, 2009.
* Limit six specific phthalates to 1,000 ppm by July 1, 2009.
* Set limits that apply to children's toys; cosmetics and jewelry marketed to children under the age of 12; products used for teething babies; and car seats that are made or sold in Washington.

The Seattle PI article is still on line at http://www.seattlepi.com/local/357287_toys02.html

The original proposal was House Bill 2647. http://www.washingtonvotes.org/2008-HB-2647

The RCW (Revised Code of Washington) is http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=70.240

Unlike the CPSIA this law has some amount of "common sense" exemptions from the definition of "children's products" including batteries, chemistry sets, bicycles and tricycles, etc.

[Russ Nobbs]

We recently had a customer ask about making jewelry for young attendants at a wedding. She asked about clip on findings and Swarovski crystals in particular. I had to point out that under the CPSIA law those were illegal products for children.

On Rena Klingenberg's Jewelry Business Blog a question was posted about the CPSIA asking
Regarding CPSC children’s lead law, even if customers want to waive 12 yr. old and younger ruling, are we allowed to make and sell jewelry for which we cannot provide lead safe certification (suppliers won’t or can’t get letters from manufacturers)? We believe materials are lead safe but don’t have certification.

I posted a long reply. It's worth repeating here.
Bottom line? No.

Unless you are using specific exempt materials (gold, sterling, gemstones, pearls, etc) you, the manufacturer, of the product are required to have testing done if you sell children's jewelry. Even though the current testing requirements  for many thing are postponed, the current CPSIA (and some recent state laws) make it illegal to sell jewelry intended for children under the age of 13 unless you have independent lab testing of the products.

It IS a bad law, hastily written and passed. There is no common sense exemptions for small, domestic jewelry and craft makers. Congress is finally considering some amendments to it but they do not eliminate the problems the CPSIA created. Nor do they fix the various state laws.

I suggest you read the last pages of my summaries on lead laws at http://www.rings-things.com/forum/index.php/topic,2947.0.html
Then check out the Handmade Toy association, the Fashion Jewelry Trade group and the CPSC itself at these links:
http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/Home/our-proposal-to-modify-the-cpsia
http://www.fjta.org/
http://www.cpsc.gov/
http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/smbus/cpsiasbguide.html
http://www.whatisthecpsia.com/

Will you get caught and fined? Probably not. But is it legal to do what you ask? Not under current laws.

What can you do? Become knowledgeable on this issue and contact ALL your Congress members and chairs of committees dealing with this issue.  Let Congress know that this well intentioned law has badly gone sideways.

I didn't add the link to the proposed (if inadequate) changes to the law. You can read the preliminary (for discussion) version of Rep Henry Waxman's revisions to CPSIA at http://www.learningresources.com/text/pdf/LR/CPSIA_005_xml.pdf