Lead-Containing Jewelry Law - Important

Hmm, very interesting. But how the heck do you know if anything you have has lead in it?

Kristy,

Good question. I think the "Table of Materials Required for Jewelry" (see link in the post above) may help.

Also some components are known to contain lead - such as Swarovski crystals (although they are coming out with a lead-free version of their crystals).

According to Fire Mountain Gems:

"Swarovski® crystal tests at 21% lead. Celestial™ crystals test at 12 to 14% lead. Czech fire-polished crystals have no lead."

Older pewter components are likely to contain lead, but new pewter is made lead-free. If you use pewter at all, it's a good idea to ask the supplier.

I think the suppliers and manufacturers of our individual jewelry components should be the resource for us to check with.

Many of them are already posting statements about lead content on their websites.

Rings & Things has an excellent page on lead in jewelry components: Lead in Jewelry Products?

I hope this helps!

Rena

I understand correctly, since Swarovski's test at 21% lead, we will not be allowed AT ALL to use crystals we currently have in our inventory?

The materials list says that children's jewelry MAY use "Glass or crystal decorative components that weigh in total no more than 1 gram, excluding any glass or crystal decorative component that contains…."

My main question is, will the leaded swarovski beads we now own be eventually "illegal"?

That's what I'm getting as I read the law. Thanks.

Hi everyone - great issue, Rena!

Prop 65 has actually been around for quite some time, but a lot of very small businesses haven't known about it, or don't know it applies to them.

My question is about the "safe harbor" numbers, which are listed on this pdf - http://www.oehha.ca.gov/prop65/pdf/October2007StatusRpt.pdf.

Is it possible that crystal beads fall within the safe harbor? It's a little frustrating to me that the state hasn't provided better guidance on that.

How do they translate percentage of lead (like, 12% in a bead) to a person's "exposure per day," which is what the safe harbor numbers apparently are?

If anyone has more info on this (any chemists? lol), please share!

In a similar, but totally separate issue, California also recently passed a law banning phthalates in toys for children under 3 years old. Polymer clay contains phthalates - I don't know if anyone is making anything intended for kids under 3 (that's pretty young!), but it's something to think about.

~Chris

Holy cow! Look what I just found here - http://www.oehha.ca.gov/prop65/p65faq.html

Q. Are any businesses exempt from Proposition 65?

A. Yes. Small businesses with less than 10 employees, governmental agencies, and public water systems are exempt from the warning requirement and discharge prohibition of Proposition 65. This is addressed in the definition for "person in the course of doing business" in section 25249.11(b) of the Health and Safety Code, which states, “‘Person in the course of doing business' does not include any person employing fewer than 10 employees in his or her business . . .

Wow! I never heard that before - it sounds like very small businesses are not subject to this law afterall.

Does anyone have more information about leaded crystals? I was always under the impression that the lead was sealed into the crystal when it was made, and is no longer harmful. People drink out of leaded crystal glasses all the time. This new law seems to imply that crystal beads like Swarovski are harmful because of the lead content. Also, does anyone know if regular glass beads, or beads coated with an AB finish contain lead?
I would appreciate any info! Thanks,
Tina Cloud

@ Lizc - At the moment, only California has this law (as far as I am aware) - so you would still be able to continue to sell your current stock of Swarovski crystals to customers outside of California.

My guess is that, considering all the current press about lead in jewelry, the current leaded Swarovskis may soon become at least "undesirable" if not actually "illegal".

I think we may all want to work toward doing our best to buy jewelry components that are lead-free.

@ Chris - thanks for your kind compliment on my newsletter!

Also thanks for finding and posting these links!

Boy, I'm as in the dark as everyone else on that - it seems that the wording of this legislation raises more questions than it answers.

To all who are interested in this topic, I recommend following the Lead Jewelry Law Etsy Forum thread - and keeping an eye out for the article that Sarah from Etsy Admin is going to research and write on this legislation.

@ Tina Cloud - I'm not sure about how the lead is impregnated in the crystal, nor at what level it's safe for human use.

Hopefully the Swarovski Co. will come out with some info on this topic soon, because it impacts a LOT of people!

- Rena

Hi if you are not sure about whether the crystal is including lead or not, you can ask them to offer a test report, such as SGS test report.

Lead or not lead depends on the material you are using, people prefer lead crystal because it looks more brilliant and the technic is not so difficult.

The process of the beads polished will not caused the lead sealed in.

Hello there - I just came across this discussion (which seems to have slowed down) but wanted to know if you are still concerned about lead content in jewelry.

We (Skyray XRF) sell instruments that detect lead levels and I've talked to many throughout the industry about this. It seems like a situation where the proof of compliance gets pushed down the supplier chain; very similar to the way the electronics industry handled RoHS (and similar legislations).

Just wondering where things stood and look forward to reading more on it -