CPSC calls for tighter limits for lead

Recommendation would ban kids' jewelry with more than 0.06% lead

After what seems like a steady stream of recalls of children's jewelry, the Consumer Product Safety Commission staff is proposing a stronger stand on lead in children's jewelry.  And we're glad it is, especially coming after this week's recall of 52,000 mood necklaces and pendants (pictured) made by Real Kids, Inc.

Responding to a petition filed by the Sierra Club, and strongly supported by Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, the CPSC staff agreed that the commission should ban metal jewelry that contains more than 0.06 percent lead. In papers posted on the Commission’s web site today, the staff said such jewelry should be considered “a hazardous substance” because of the lead content and potential for exposure. Kids who ingest this highly toxic metal can experience a range of severe health problems, most notably brain damage, behavioral problems, and at high doses, kidney damage and even death. At least 14 separate recalls involving more than 160 million pieces of metal jewelry have been issued over the past two years.

The recommendation is a positive step forward for the CPSC, which up to now has operated on a two-step process to force a recall of jewelry containing lead. Under that process, if jewelry contained more than 0.06 percent lead, it was then tested for “accessibility” or “extractability” to confirm that the lead could leach or flake from the jewelry and get absorbed into the body through the mouth or skin. If the piece of jewelry passed that test — e.g., no more than 175 micrograms of lead was extracted — it could still be sold.

As most parents know, mouthing, and sometimes ingesting jewelry and other objects is unavoidable for many kids, especially little ones. From 2000 to 2005 the CPSC staff estimated more than 300,000 children aged 18 years and younger were treated in hospital emergency rooms for injuries associated with foreign object ingestion; nearly 20,000 of the ingestions involved jewelry items. Although it is unclear how many of these jewelry pieces contained lead, the staff said it knew of three individual cases of children who swallowed lead-containing jewelry — including one recent case of a child who died after swallowing a metal charm from a bracelet.

In agreeing with the Sierra Club petition, the staff said “the extractability of lead from children’s metal jewelry is strongly associated with the lead content of items.” They found that excess lead exposure that could result in substantial illness is likely in children or anyone mouthing or ingesting items that contain more than 0.06 percent lead, and that the amount of exposure likely increases with increasing lead content in the item.”

Eliminating the need for the second test will simplify and hopefully accelerate the process of getting lead-laden jewelry off of store shelves and out of the hands of children, provided the commission adopts the staff recommendation. Unfortunately, it still could be months or longer before the ban is final since the staff recommendation is only the very beginning of a rule-making process. In the meantime, Consumers Union advises parents to avoid cheap jewelry for kids -- and watch for recalls.