Excessive levels of lead found in imitation jewelry
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, March 14, 2017
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Cheap jewelry might contain harmful levels of lead and cadmium, an inspection by Shanghai’s quality watchdog found yesterday. [Photo/Shanghai Daily] |
Necklaces, bracelets and pendants sold at two imitation jewelry stores in Huangpu District were found to contain excessive levels of lead and cadmium.
The faulty products were uncovered after the city’s quality watchdog conducted an inspection of imitation jewelry yesterday.
A bracelet sold at Caphne, a store inside the Hong Kong Shopping Center in the People’s Square area, contained 1,000 times the maximum amount of cadmium permitted under China’s national standard on harmful elements for accessories, initial tests by the Shanghai Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau found.
Officials used X-ray fluorescence spectrometers to obtain an average testing result.
The amount of cadmium in the bracelet was 114,216 milligrams per kilogram, compared with the maximum limit of 100 milligrams per kilogram allowed.
Another necklace sold at the store was found to have 9,606 milligrams per kilogram of lead, more than nine times the national standard of a maximum 1,000 milligrams per kilogram allowed.
At another store, called Ajidou, officials found a necklace contained excessive lead and cadmium, both containing at least four times the limit allowed.
The bureau conducted tests on about 40 necklaces, bracelets and pendants at the two stores in total and found six had excessive lead and cadmium, but accurate and exact results required laboratory tests, the agency said.
The suspect items have been sent for laboratory tests. The stores would be punished if those tests confirmed the bureau’s findings, officials said.
People wearing jewelry with excessive heavy metal were likely to suffer from dermatitis, eczema, and even have their nervous, blood and digestive system harmed, officials said.
Cui Hong, an official with the bureau’s law enforcement team said the bureau had recently received a number of complaints on imitation jewelry with consumers saying they had suffered from itching, blisters, and nail problems after wearing jewelry, and that such symptoms disappeared once they stopped using the jewelry.
Excessive amount of nickel release would cause anaphylactic contact dermatitis, while lead poisoning could harm the nervous system, Cui added.
Children could suffer from attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder and hypomania from wearing accessories with excessive lead, said Cui.
Businesses that used low quality and cheap materials were responsible for the jewelry complaints, he added.
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