Research on cadmium contamination of
children’s jewelry
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Testing
of inexpensive jewelry items for cadmium content: Testing
was carried out for the Associated Press by Dr. Jeff Weidenhamer, Trustees’ Distinguished
Professor of Chemistry and two Ashland University toxicology majors working
under his supervision: Daphne Guinn
and Janna Pearson. A total
of 103 jewelry items were purchased at retail stores in Ohio, Texas,
California and New York. The items
were screened for the presence of high levels of cadmium using a technique
called X-ray fluorescence. A total of
14 items contained more than 10% cadmium based on these tests. Additional
testing was done on several of the high-cadmium jewelry items to determine
the amounts of cadmium that might leach from the items if swallowed, and to
determine the total cadmium content of items based on digestion of the metal
in acid. The maximum cadmium content
found was 91.0%, or 910,000, in a Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer charm
purchase at a dollar store in New York by Judy Braiman of the Empire State
Consumer Group of Rochester, NY.
Charms on another bracelet contained 89 and 91% cadmium, and a
necklace pendant contained 79% cadmium.
All of these pieces released dangerously high amounts of cadmium in
leaching tests. Cadmium
is a toxic metal that is classified as a probable human carcinogen by the US
Environmental Protection Agency. The
primary hazard of chronic cadmium exposure is kidney damage, however recent
research also links cadmium exposure to learning disabilities and loss of IQ
in young children. The World Health
Organization estimates the tolerable weekly intake for cadmium to be 7
micrograms per kg body weight per week.
There are currently no standards for the cadmium content of jewelry
items intended for children. |
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For more information, see the
Associated Press stories:
In
the Cleveland Plain Dealer:
In
the Washington Post:
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