Bad EPA Test Methods may Result in Unsafe Toxic Jewelry in Retail Stores

    LOS ANGELES, CA, May 06, 2019 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The Metal Containing Jewelry Law (MCJL) was designed to protect people, especially children from Lead and Cadmium in jewelry. Jewelry companies rely on testing reports to determine safety. However, the law requires that companies test their product using EPA soil methods, not designed to test for jewelry, which cannot guarantee accurate results and ultimately safety. The Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) created valid jewelry methods designed to accurately test jewelry. The inaccurate EPA test methods should be removed from the MCJL and replaced with valid CPSC methods to insure safety.

According to the CDC, in mid-February 2006, a 4 year old boy with a previous medical history of microcephaly and developmental delay died after he swallowed a Reebok charm that contained toxic lead. This charm was tested using EPA test method 3050. EPA test methods 3050, 3051 and 3052 included in the Metal Containing Jewelry Law, are specifically designed to test metals in soils, sediments and sludges and not jewelry. In the report of this incident, the CDC noted the extreme variability they saw when the jewelry was tested using EPA test method 3050 at the same lab with results ranging from (99.1%)991,000ppm to (0.07%)700ppm to (67%)670,000ppm. The huge variation of hundreds of thousands of ppm in lead content revealed by the tests was consistent with other jewelry test results using this method, which indicates that EPA 3050 test method could not accurately detect Lead and Cadmium in jewelry. With soil EPA test methods being used to test jewelry, the results cannot be trusted and can cause harmful and possibly deadly products to be sold.

Today, this boy may still have been alive because in 2008, the CPSC created test methods that accurately tests for jewelry. According to EPA.gov, "The EPA works to ensure that Americans have clean air, land and water", and are not responsible for consumer products. The CPSC is responsible for the safety of consumer products and requires jewelry to be tested using valid CPSC methods at CPSC certified labs. California Senator Mitchell is currently working on the Safe Jewelry Act(SB647), which could create a new jewelry standard in the U.S and these EPA methods are included in that bill. By permitting the use of inaccurate EPA soil methods, children can be exposed to high levels of toxic Lead or Cadmium causing potential death or injury.

These EPA methods could pose a significant health risk as companies rely on testing to determine if a product is brought to market. In the case of Reebok, a single test report using inaccurate EPA 3050 test methods, caused an impact of 300,000 charms to be recalled. This recall represented 300,000 possible cases of injury or death most likely due to inaccurate testing by EPA methods, which could have been prevented today through the use of accurate CPSC test methods designed to test for jewelry.

By allowing the use of these inaccurate EPA soil methods, children continue to be vulnerable to Lead and Cadmium exposure related incidences.

Citizens for Safe Consumer Products is an organization with a mission to ensure that every consumer product is safe for children and adults. We listen to the concerns of mothers, fathers, citizens, doctors, scientists and toxicologist and speak out on their behalf.

We have concluded that EPA 3050b, 3051a and 3052 testing methods designed to test for soil, can not provide accurate results to test for Lead and Cadmium in jewelry. The only trusted jewelry on the market are the ones that have been tested using CPSC valid test methods at CPSC certified labs. California's Metal Containing Jewelry Law must remove the EPA test methods and replace them with valid CPSC test methods to insure accurate, reliable results and ultimately the health and safety of children.

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