What’s going on?
A recently published report has discovered dangerous levels of cadmium has been found in some children’s jewelry. Children can be exposed to the cadmium by biting or sucking on the jewelry.
What’s cadmium?
Cadmium is a metallic element that is a known carcinogen (something that can cause cancer… like the stuff in cigarettes). Recent research shows cadmium can hinder brain development in young children.
If cadmium is bad why is it in childrens jewelry?
There is currently no law that bans cadmium in children’s jewelry. Currently the law says cadmium is only illegal in children’s painted toys.
Remember all the lead found in toys from China from a couple of years ago? Lead is now banned in children’s toys so manufacturers have turned to cadmium.
Which jewelry have cadmium?
The news on this is still developing but early reports are advising you to steer clear of the following:
- Inexpensive children’s jewelry made in China
- “Princess and the Frog” bracelets sold at Wal-Mart
- Three flip-flop bracelet charms sold at Wal-Mart in 2008
- Two charms on a “Best Friends” bracelet from Claire’s
There’s more than just the above but further testing is needed to find all of them.
How accurate is this report?
It just came out and is still in the early stages. So it’s a good idea to follow the story for further developments and steer clear of childern’s jewelry for now. Unless of course your kid is already dumb (which 99.99% of them are) then I suppose not much more damage can be done.
More info
Here’s the original news story.