allergy proof chain

[Karin]

Hello everybody,

My name is Karin and I'm a new memer here. I live in Sweden and I just got into jewelry making. And I am very excited about it! But since i'm new I do have a lot of questions...
My ambition is to make odd, unique, kind of punky but yet stylish jewelry and I want to keep the costs down as much as possible. And now I am looking for chains to my necklaces. I was wondering about the brass chains. Do they contain any nickel or lead? Is it possible to make allergy-proof jewelry without having to make them of gold/goldfilled/st.silver?

Thanks a lot.
/Karin, Sweden

[tease_designs]

Hi Karin
Rings and things stocks niobium and titanium ear ring findings and they also carry niobium wire that could be used to make a chain if you so desired.
Good luck

Tease

[marym]

We do indeed... and after looking at recent silver prices, I am reminded of how much I like it....

Niobium wire

Niobium findings

Good question about the chain... I will see if I can find that out and get back to you here.

Welcome to the R&T forum, btw. '>

[Karin]

thanks for your replies.
i have more questions... here they go:

1. product "Chain, Footage, Ball, 2mm, 100ft Stock #: 40-981", what's under the brass-plating? steel? does the chain contain any lead or nickel?

2. I wonder the same thing about "Kidney Wire Stock #: 34-612". What's underneath the plating?

3. product "Kidney Wire Stock #: 34-112-2" what does the non-nickel gold-color plating contain?

4. Does product "Chain, Footage, Cable, 2.1mm Stock #: 40-099-13-0" (raw brass chain) contain any lead or nickel?

Thanks a lot for taking your time.

[marym]

Hi Karin- I've passed these questions onto our chain buyers. They may answer here- or send me a response to post. Check back soon!

-Mary

[mar-clar]

I wanted to try to give you some information before the weekend.

1.  40-881 (Chain, Ftage, Ball, 2mm, White)
 The basemetal under the Brass plating is Steel. I believe it would be safe to say that there would be trace amounts of both nickel and lead in the Steel component of this chain.

2.  34-612 (Kidney Wire, GF)
 The basemetal bonded to the 12kt Gold-Filled surface is a Raw Brass material. I believe it would be safe to say that there would be trace amounts of both nickel and lead in the Raw Brass component of this Kidney Wire.

3.  34-112-2 (Kidney Wire, S/S/S)
 I believe that the basemetal of this component is 430 Surgical Stainless Steel which is Nickel free. The plating on the ear wire itself is an Imitation Hamilton Gold finish, which is also Nickel Free. I do not know if the plating itself is lead free, but I would say that trace amounts of lead would be present.

4. 40-099-13-0 (Chain, Ftage, Cable, 2.1mm)
 This chain is made from Raw Brass and I would guess that trace amounts of both Nickel and Lead would be present is this chain.

As you may know the European standards for classifying materials as either Lead or Nickel free are much more stringent than here in the United States. At this point we cannot say with certainty that any of the items in question would meet the European standards for a Nickel or a Lead free product.
I will see if I can get some more detailed information for you if the above descriptions do not fully answer your questions.
Thanks for your interest.

[Karin]

Thanks for the information. I have allergies myself and I would hate if the earrings and necklaces I make would cause allergies to someone else. And I still want to be able to use cheap supplies so I can make affordable jewelry.
It would be very helpful if you could get more detailed information.
Thanks again.
/Karin

[Polly]

Lead in jewelry:
Lead can be a serious problem in cast charms, cast clasps, and other cast metal items (the type that look like pewter, and when broken apart, often look slightly porous). However, lead is not commonly added to non-cast jewelry items. Over the centuries, the low melting temperature of lead made it a popular metal to include in casting alloys. Unfortunately, it is also poisonous when ingested, and it is amazing how many products (jewelry, goblets, candle wicks, etc.) have been made -- and continue to be made -- with lead. Children -- and many other people -- commonly chew on their necklaces, and so cast metal items (such as pewter alphabet beads) should not be used for children's jewelry unless they are certified lead free, from a reputable vendor.

Just a few years ago, many of us selling beads, charms, clasps etc didn't realize there how often lead was used in our pewter (and other inexpensive cast) findings. Now, we mark cast items with a lead warning unless they are from a vendor that we trust, and who certifies their castings are lead free. In the last 5 years, many vendors of cast metal beads and findings have switched to lead-free alloys. We stock over 300 lead-free findings, crystals and beads (not counting 1,000+sterling silver findings and sterling silver beads which are, by definition, lead free or nearly lead free).  The number of lead-free beads and findings continues to grow as more manufacturers switch to 100% lead-free alloys.

Lead is rarely a problem with brass or steel items, such as chain or ear wires. Lead is not added to these on purpose. Brass is an alloy of copper (80-85%) and zinc (10-15%). Sterling is 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper. Steel is mostly iron, but for certain purposes -- such as for the stainless steel often used in jewelry -- might have chromium, often combined with nickel, to resist corrosion (rust).  
Significant amounts of lead will damage the brass, steel or sterling alloy! However, trace (very tiny) amounts of lead might be present in some factories. I believe that they would be such trace amounts, that they would not cause problems in humans. The fact that sterling, brass and steel have specific alloy definitions is what makes lead less of an issue with them. If you are made of 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper, there isn't much room left over for lead.

Nickel in jewelry:
Nickel, on the other hand is added intentionally to most alloys of stainless steel.  
Hence, our certified lead-free jewelry findings are mostly the wire- and sheet-formed products that you would normally expect to contain nickel.

And to make matters more confusing, there is that term "trace" meaning metals are rarely 100% pure. See here for a definition of nickel-free.


To make a long story short,
 - Items made of steel are likely to contain nickel (prevents rust/corrosion), unless they are marked nickel free.
 - Items containing brass are likely to have no added nickel or lead, but might have varying amounts of impurities.
 - Items made of sterling silver are usually safe, because they are already certified to be sterling silver which has specific international rules attached to it (and which melts to a spattering mess if you taint it with lead-based solders).
 - Assume that cast base-metal items contain lead, unless a trustworthy vendor certifies they are lead free.