Document ID: EPA-HQ-OPPT-2006-0397-0019
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2006-07-28T04:00Z

In
what
manner
is
lead
used
in
jewelry
manufacturing?

A
jewelry
item
may
contain
lead
due
to
three
main
reasons
(
Lead
Check,
2005):
·
Most
metal
alloys
used
in
jewelry
making
contain
lead
in
varying
amounts.
Further,
a
jewelry
item
may
contain
a
lead
core
coated
with
a
thin
coat
of
another
material
(
usually
nickel).
·
A
jewelry
item
may
be
decorated
with
brightly
colored
lead
containing
enamel.
·
Some
ornaments
may
be
attached
to
the
main
piece
of
jewelry
with
leadcontaining
solder.
Further,
in
independent
testing
commissioned
by
Center
for
Environmental
Health
(
CEH),
PVC
cords
on
children's
jewelry
have
routinely
tested
over
the
screening
level
established
for
metal
jewelry
components
(
CEH,
2005).

Why
is
there
lead
in
most
metal
alloys
used
in
jewelry
manufacturing?

Lead
provides
critical
fluidity
to
traditional
white
metal
alloys.
Without
it,
manufacturers
can
have
difficulty
casting
jewelry
in
tin
(
Wade,
1999).

Are
there
lead­
free
alternatives
to
white
metal
alloys
used
in
jewelry
manufacturing?

Yes.
Some
of
the
lead­
free
alloys
offered
by
metal
suppliers
include:
·
92%
tin,
7.75%
antimony,
0.25%
copper
·
97.255
tin,
0,.
25%
copper,
2.5%
bismuth,
0.25%
silver
·
96%
tin,
2%
bismuth,
2%
antimony
·
92%
tin,
7.25%
antimony,
0.5%
copper,
0.25%
silver
There
are
also
variations
on
these
alloys
offered
by
metal
suppliers
(
Wade,
1999).

What
are
the
implications
of
using
lead­
free
alloys
in
jewelry
manufacturing?

The
lead­
free
alloys
are
more
expensive
and
require
various
adjustments
to
operations,
such
as
·
Use
of
higher
grade
of
black
rubber
to
compensate
for
the
altered
rate
of
solidification
·
Use
of
a
wider
or
thicker
gate
·
Addition
of
vents
·
Use
of
a
bottom­
pour
self­
skimming
ladle
Further,
lead­
free
alloys
result
in
approximately
a
10%
reduction
in
mold
life
(
Wade,
1999).

What
is
the
prevalence
of
toy
jewelry
containing
hazardous
levels
of
lead?

Maas
et
al.
(
2005)
of
University
of
North
Carolina's
Environmental
Quality
Institute
conducted
a
research
study
on
the
lead
content
and
exposure
from
jewelry
products.
They
sampled
285
costume
jewelry
items
from
20
different
stores
in
California.
The
costume
jewelry
items
sampled
were
intended
for
both
older
children
and
adults.
They
found
that
there
is
a
considerable
amount
of
lead
being
used
in
the
production
of
most
of
the
sampled
jewelry
items.
Of
the
total
samples
tested,
54%
contained
at
least
3.0%
lead
by
weight
in
at
least
one
portion
of
the
jewelry
piece.
These
samples
showed
a
wide
range
of
lead
weight
percentages,
from
a
low
of
essentially
zero
to
a
maximum
of
essentially
100%
lead.
In
fact,
40%
of
the
samples
were
found
to
contain
more
than
50.0%
lead
by
weight
and
12.0%
contained
more
than
75.0%
lead.
Items
categorized
as
`
children's
jewelry'
showed
an
overall
mean
lead
content
of
27.85,
while
those
pieces
intended
for
all
ages
had
a
mean
lead
content
of
35.6%.

The
study
findings
imply
that
the
probability
of
purchasing
a
high
lead­
containing
jewelry
item
(
one
with
a
lead
percentage
of
10%
or
more),
is
over
54%
in
their
sample.

Are
lead­
containing
jewelry
items
manufactured
domestically,
imported,
or
both?

Based
on
recall
data
from
the
Consumer
Product
Safety
Commission
(
CPSC),
all
of
the
jewelry
items
recalled
due
to
high
lead
levels
during
the
1997­
2006
period
were
imported.
Further
94
percent
of
the
recalled
jewelry
items
were
manufactured
in
India
and
the
remaining
6
percent
were
manufactured
in
China.

Which
countries
are
the
top
U.
S.
exporters
of
costume
jewelry?

The
top
five
countries
that
export
costume
jewelry
to
the
U.
S.
include,
in
descending
order
(
by
2005
CIF
value):
·
China
·
Austria
·
India
·
Korea,
and
·
Czech
Republic
Imports
from
China
amount
to
65
percent
of
all
costume
jewelry
imports.
Currently,
about
60
percent
of
all
costume
jewelry
export
volume
in
China
is
low­
end,
30
percent
midrange
and
10
percent
high­
end.
About
65
percent
of
costume
jewelry
makers
in
China
are
small
companies
and
around
90
percent
are
privately
owned.
Large
manufacturers
account
for
no
more
than
5
percent
of
all
exporters,
and
only
about
10
percent
are
foreign­
owned
or
joint
ventures.
The
type
of
costume
jewelry
imported
from
China
include
rings,
earrings,
choker&
necklaces,
bracelets
and
anklets,
brooches
and
are
mostly
low­
end.
While
high­
end
costume
jewelry
is
noted
as
being
lead­
free,
the
low­
end
items
typically
made
from
based
metals
potentially
contain
lead
(
Global
Sources,
2006).

References
Center
for
Environmental
Health.
(
2005).
Analysis
of
CPSC
policy
on
lead­
tainted
children's
jewelry.
CEH
Press
Release.
February
9.
Global
Sources.
(
2006).
Costume
Jewelry
­
China
Sourcing
Report.
Global
Sources.
January.
Lead
Check.
(
2005).
Testing
for
lead
in
jewelry.
http://
www.
leadcheck.
com/
PB­
21.
html.
Maas,
R.
P.,
S.
C.
Patch,
T.
J.
Pandolfo,
J.
L.
Druhan,
and
N.
F.
Gandy.
(
2005).
"
Lead
content
and
exposure
from
children's
and
adult's
jewelry
products."
Bulletin
of
Environmental
Contamination
and
Toxicology,
74:
437­
444.
Wade,
S.
(
1999).
"
Getting
the
lead
out."
AJM
Magazine.
April.
Jewelry
metals
information
Metal
density
(
lb/
in3)
melting
point
(
fahrenheit)
U
S
G
S
p
r
i
c
e
p
e
r
o
u
n
c
e
Lead
0.41
621
$
0
.
0
4
Tin
0.26
449
$
0
.
2
3
Copper
0.32
1984
$
0
.
1
1
Stainless
steel
0.28
2745
$
0
.
1
2
Silver
0.38
1763
$
6
.
5
2
From
Joe
Callahan
5/
8/
06