Although there are no specific laws or limits for lead in jewellery, or specifically children’s jewellery, in the EU / UK, the general duty under criminal law and the civil provisions regarding ‘product liability’ cover the situation. Therefore, in order to protect Consumers from the dangers of lead and cover themselves legally, UK suppliers need to adopt some “due diligence” procedures” to demonstrate that they have taken “all reasonable steps” to ensure that their products are safe.  Part of this may be in the specification to the manufacturer or wholesaler but it is recommended that some independent testing be carried out on high risk products.

It is crucial to use the correct tests to achieve the most accurate result available. This is particularly important when a component marginally meets or exceeds the specified limits. Products may be tested for Lead Content, or for leachable lead - Lead Release

Testing for Lead Content

In the absence of any specific EU legislation most Customers are following the regulations stipulated in America and Canada which permit a maximum of 600 parts per million (mg/kg) lead. Canadian Legislation states that the  leach able lead value should be below 90 mg/kg, whereas American Legislation, which dictates a different method states a limit of 175 micrograms.

The widely known Californian Court Judgement on the exposure of lead refers to test method USEPA 3050B or 3051 for non metallic items. Some laboratories therefore automatically assume that these are the methods of choice recommended for lead testing, but this is not the case; as the judgement also states that 3050B is unsuitable for Glass, Ceramic and Crystal based components which are often present in costume jewellery.

Method 3050B was developed for environmental purposes to analyse sediments, soil and sludge and this process will have limited accuracy when applied to jewellery, depending upon the composition  of the jewellery item. The method is unsuitable for certain non-metallic matrices and it is particularly difficult to dissolve titanium oxides, aluminium oxides, glass and silica based components which are frequently found in costume jewellery components.

Metallic Components.

• The Laboratory at TheBirmingham Assay Office can test to Method 3050B as some retailers still require it. However, it has also adopted an alternative procedure based on tests developed by the American Consumer Products Safety Commission and Health Canada which is quick, straightforward and more accurate for metallic components. This is UKAS Accredited to ISO 17025.

Non-Metallic Components.

• The Laboratory at The Birmingham Assay Office has also developed a separate method for non metallic components. The method is UKAS accredited and is far more appropriate for the analysis of non metallic costume jewellery parts. The method involves a single step dissolution, whereas method 3050B involves many steps depending on the matrix of the item so that accuracy is inevitably reduced.

Tests for Leachable Lead – BS EN 71-3

The Laboratory at The Birmingham Assay Office carries out tests to determine compliance with BS EN 71-3, a recognized standard for the safety of Toys. It restricts the amount of lead released (as opposed to the lead content) AND it also identifies seven other toxic elements which can be even more harmful than lead.

The reason for analysing all of these potentially toxic elements is to allow for lead being substituted with other elements for example, cadmium which is more toxic than lead but cheaper. Many instances of this have been reported in the USA where lead is limited.

Items tested by EN 71-3:1995 are considered safe if the level of leachable lead is below 90 mg/Kg (0.009%, 90ppm). Safe limits for other elements are shown in the table below. Each item will normally be tested by component and results reported as  milligrams per kilogram of leachable lead (migration rate).