U.S Illinois limit cadmium in jewelry
Limits on the amount of cadmium in children's jewelry will go into effect July 1 in Illinois, making it the second state, alongside Minnesota, to actively regulate use of the metal, according to MJSA. The state will limit cadmium use to 75 parts per million in any surface coating or accessible substrate of jewelry.
According to the Illinois statute, companies are required to measure the amount of cadmium that can leach out of a sample of jewelry over a two-hour period, when the sample is immersed in a solution that simulates digestive action. The test is conducted this way because children’s exposure to cadmium is usually a result of sucking, chewing or swallowing metal jewelry.
The issue of cadmium jewelry came to national attention in Jan. 2010, when an Associated Press article revealed that some overseas jewelry manufacturers were using high levels of the metal in children’s jewelry, which was found on the shelves of major retailers such as Wal-Mart and Claire’s Boutiques.
In June 2010, associations such as MJSA and the Fashion Jewelry and Accessories Trade Association (FJATA), as well as representatives of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) came together to form the ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) Subcommittee on Children’s Jewelry, chaired by the FJATA.
The subcommittee drafted an ASTM Children’s Jewelry Safety Standard, including recommendations on cadmium limits, which is currently undergoing an approvals process within the ASTM. If passed, the draft could create a national standard to which all children’s jewelry producers could adhere.
California, Maryland and Connecticut have passed legislation limiting cadmium in children’s jewelry, but those laws will not take effect until 2012 (Calif., Md.) and 2014 (Conn.). The statutes for these states call for different testing and cadmium limits than Ill. and Minn., whose laws mirror each other spare Minn.’s definition of children as six and under, and Ill. specifying children as 12 and under.
Visit MJSA’s page about cadmium and children’s jewelry here.
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