Jewellery Packaging - the problems of tarnishing and staining
(Dippal Manchanda, MSc CSci CChem MRSC, Technical Director)

ARE YOUR PRODUCTS AS SAFE AND LONG-LASTING AS THEY SHOULD BE?
Products destined for the gift, home and toy markets are subject to a plethora of rules and regulations relating to their safety and their fitness for purpose.  One of the GA’s key roles is to ensure that its members are not only aware of the relevant laws and what they entail, but that they also know about the various services available to help them ensure that their products are compliant in all respects.

This article, which provides a snapshot of current legislation and the tests available, has been compiled in association with ‘The Laboratory’ at The Birmingham Assay Office.  The Laboratory, which is a member of The GA, provides a comprehensive testing facility, coupled with a consultancy service to help companies recognise and fulfil their safety obligations.

It is incumbent upon any company offering products for sale to ensure that they are safe.  While some items are subject to specific legislation, those that are not will be covered under the General Product Safety Regulations 2005/1803.  These rules are enforced under the Consumer Protection Act by Trading Standards Officers who have wide powers to inspect and seize offending articles. Penalties for non compliance can be up to six months in imprisonment or fines of up to £5000. Charges under civil law e.g. negligence, product liability and breach of statutory duty could result in far higher fines.

The onus is always on the seller to ensure that their products comply and the only defence against prosecution is to able to prove ‘all due diligence’.  To establish this, a company must be able to show that it has taken all reasonable steps and has introduced a properly monitored preventative system to ensure that its products conform to the law.  This includes a thorough paper trail and certification from suppliers to show ‘appropriate’ random testing of products being sold.

Testing areas of specific interest to GA members include:

ROHS 2005/95/EC

The ROHS directive restricts the use of certain hazardous substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment.  This applies to many items produced by GA member’s especially small household appliances such as clocks, watches and toys (of certain categories only).

Restricted substances are tested to ascertain their percentage by weight present in an item.  Acceptable levels by weight are 0.1% for Mercury, Lead, Hexavalent Chromium  Polybrominated Biphenyl  (PBB) ,Poylbrominated Biphenyl Ether  (PBDE)  and 0.01% for Cadmium.

The Laboratory at The Birmingham Assay Office offers various tests for these substances including X Ray Fluorescence for mercury, lead, cadmium, PBBE and PBDE; a spot test/boiling water test and ISO 17075 for chromium (VI).

For watches, all parts fall under the ROHS regulations from internal parts (excluding batteries which fall under a different directive) to straps, lenses and buckles.

Leather articles will need to be analysed for Chromium (VI), as it can cause severe allergies, even at parts per million levels. Companies producing leather items for prolonged wear against the skin should be aware of this fact.  Leather testing is governed by ISO 17075.

LEAD (BS EN 71) – especially in toys and children’s jewellery

Lead is toxic at very low levels of exposure and can badly damage the development of infants and young children.

The control of lead in children’s toys is governed in Europe by BS EN 71-3:1995, but at present there is no specific law concerning the use of lead in children’s jewellery. Although following recent press controversy, it is strongly recommended that this too should be tested under BS EN 71-3:1995 or according to method specified under American (CPSC method) or in Canadian regulation. The lead regulations for North America are slightly different to those in Europe.

Tests for the European ‘lead’ limit also offer the benefit of testing for seven other toxic elements that are also subject to restricted use. These are Arsenic, Mercury, Selenium, Chromium, Antimony, Cadmium, and Barium.

There are two types of test available from The Laboratory at TheBirmingham Assay Office:

• The ‘leach’ test where by articles are tested in component form in a chemical bath that simulates digestive acid.  Results are reported in milligrams per kilogram of leachable lead (migration rate) with the European ‘safe’ limit set at 90mg/Kg which is equivalent to 0.009% of leachable lead.  The limit for North America is greater than 175µg of leachable lead.

• The ‘lead content test’ involves dissolving the sample in acid and determining the lead concentration using an ICP-OES instrument.  Where there are decorative or protective coatings on products such as paints, varnishes, lacquers and printing inks these too must be removed and tested separately using a dissolution procedure followed by ICP-OES.

A comprehensive article exploring the current situation with regard to lead in children’s jewellery is available free on request from The Laboratory at The Birmingham Assay Office.

NICKEL (BS EN 1811) – New Quick Nickel Release Test
Nickel can cause allergies and is the most common cause of allergic contact dermatitis of the skin. 10% of the UK’s adult population is sensitised to nickel.

All items that are in prolonged or constant contact with the skin – jewellery, spectacles, certain belt buckles etc - must be produced in line with ‘The Dangerous Substance and Preparations (Nickel) (Safety) Regulations 2005. Since the initial directive was passed, suppliers have invested significant time and money in changing production processes and most products tested now prove to be compliant. So much so that many companies now regard testing to BS EN 1811, as stipulated in the legislation, to be a costly formality which delays lead times unnecessarily.

The Laboratory at Birmingham Assay Office has developed a unique alternative – the Quick Nickel test to make testing quicker and cheaper.  The test accurately identifies items which would definitely pass BS EN 1811 and comply with the UK Nickel regulations.  It takes just three days and is 98.5% accurate.  

PRODUCT PERFORMANCE TESTS
The longevity of products is of concern to all gift and home producers and The Laboratory at The Birmingham Assay Office provides a portfolio of UKAS Accredited tests to help them ensure that their items will meet Customer expectations and are safe. Some of these are recognised International Standards while others have been specifically developed by Dippal Manchanda, Technical Director and his team in response to enquiries from their Customers.

The Laboratory can subject products to tests that replicate the effects of wear and tear and the effect of damaging elements such as perspiration, humidity, high temperatures, and chlorinated or salt water.

BS EN 71: Part 2 – 2006 specifies the categories of flammable materials which are prohibited in all toys and requirements concerning flammability of certain toys when they are subjected to a small source of ignition.

The test procedures described in Clause 5 are used for the purpose of determining the flammability of toys under the particular test conditions specified The Laboratory is also equipped to carry out flammability tests (BS EN 71: Part 2 – 2006) according to the procedure above.

Packaging materials can have a profound influence on how gift and jewellery items of gold, silver or silver plate tarnish and The Laboratory offers ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ testing methods for all types of packaging materials. These are now being widely used by many different sectors of the industry.

The details of various other product tests available at the Laboratory of the Birmingham Assay Office is posted on their website (www.theassayoffice.co.uk) which may be checked for the further information.

Dippal Manchanda - Technical Director for The Birmingham Assay Office says: “Our Customers are looking for an increasingly wide range of testing services to make sure their products meet Consumer requirements and comply with the latest legislation. Many of our tests have been developed directly in response to Customer demand and we are proud to offer such a comprehensive service to the jewellery and gift industry.”

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