Play jewelry for children may contain carcinogens

Earlier this year California lawmakers voted to ban the use of a toxic metal used in children’s jewelry—but that doesn’t take effect for another year. The play jewelry people give to children this holiday season may contain carcinogens.

Four years ago, California state senator Fran Pavley, D-Santa Monica, helped pass the nation’s first ban on lead in children’s jewelry and toys.

The federal government subsequently banned lead too.

But the Santa Monica Democrat soon discovered that some jewelry exploited a loophole in the ban to swap lead for another known carcinogen: cadmium.

"We know it can cause cancer, developmental problems and genetic damage—the science is in on this one," said Pavley.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ranks cadmium seventh in a list of 275 most hazardous substances.

Pavley says cadmium is harmful kids swallow it, and even if they put the metal in their mouths—something small children are likely to do.

Pavley sponsored a new ban – this time on the use of cadmium in children’s jewelry made or sold in California.

Pavley says she convinced her colleagues in the legislature to support it with some effective show-and-tell:

"I held up on the senate floor a darling little necklace with a charm on the end of it that looks like a cupcake that was just filled with cadmium."

Pavley suggests that people shop carefully to reduce children’s exposure to cadmium. She recommends purchasing jewelry from bigger retailers that are likely to monitor their manufacturers—and are less likely to risk scandal from selling harmful products.

But that’s not a 100 percent guarantee.

This year, California’s Consumer Product Safety Commission found 200,000 pieces of cadmium-tainted jewelry imported from China for sale at stores in California—including Walmart and Claire’s.

The federal government has yet to ban cadmium in children’s jewelry.