HMTc Category 21, Row 22 — Children’s metal jewelry. Promoted from a provisional scaffold under the v2.1 reorganization (docs/governance/category-21-step0-amendment-1, 2026-06-08). A leading lead (Pb)/cadmium (Cd) recall category; the adult nickel-contact sibling is Piercing Post Assemblies. No candidate values are derived in this pass.
Reason: ingest of nelson2023-wa-childrens-jewelry-followup declared products/childrens-jewelry, which did not exist in the 2026-05-18 taxonomy snapshot
Triggering source: Cadmium and Other Metals in Children's Jewelry 2018, Follow-up Study
Literature scope
Reported measurements from source notes are below. The evidence summary sections that are still empty have not been synthesized into a population estimate. No certification limit is stated here.
Reported measurements
Nelson, Washington children’s jewelry follow-up. Of 78 products, 38 components from 33 products were analyzed. Thirty-two were metal, four plastic, and two fabric. At least one metal was detected in 37 of 38. Detected ranges, ppm: antimony 2.52 to 3,720 (16 of 38), arsenic 9.64 to 58.3 (12 of 38), cadmium 1.59 to 966,000 (30 of 38), cobalt 1.22 to 65.0 (16 of 38), lead 1.13 to 510,000 (36 of 38). Mercury was not detected in any of the 38. Arsenic is the table’s arsenic column. The reporting limit was 1 ppm for most samples, and higher for three diluted or small samples (9.80, 9.33, and 2.40 ppm). The CSPA figures the note uses, cadmium 40 ppm and lead 90 ppm, and the 100 ppm reporting threshold, are the authors’ comparators. Cadmium and Other Metals in Children's Jewelry 2018, Follow-up Study
Stone, Washington children’s products. Jewelry (Figure 7): lead was the most commonly detected metal in that group, in all but one sample, ranging up to 134 ppm in a plastic-earrings component. Arsenic was 125 ppm in another part of the same plastic earrings. Antimony was above 100 ppm in two jewelry items, a character-licensed ring at 189 ppm and a pendant at 219 ppm. Chromium was 441 and 432 ppm in two plastic-earring components, plus additional samples in the 100 ppm and above range. Chromium is total chromium, not hexavalent chromium. Clothing, cosmetics, toys, and packaging rows in the same note are not jewelry and are not repeated here. Metals in Children's and Consumer Products and Packaging
Sekerak, 2015 Washington children’s jewelry. Laboratory samples were chosen when X-ray fluorescence showed measurable cadmium or lead above 90 ppm. That screen is the note’s selection rule. Cadmium was detected in 26 of 159 purchased products (16 percent) and in 26 of 38 laboratory samples (68 percent), range below 1 ppm to 984,000 ppm. The four highest cadmium results were 984,000, 931,000, 534,000, and 397,000 ppm, in necklace pendant or charm components. Lead was detected in 37 of 159 purchased products (23 percent) and in 37 of 38 laboratory samples (97 percent), range below 1 ppm to 50,100 ppm. Matrix-spike and matrix-spike-duplicate results on the highest-lead sample were 70,600 ppm and 107,000 ppm. This page repeats 50,100 ppm and those two spike results and does not choose one. Antimony was detected in 18 of 38 laboratory samples, highest 1,960 ppm and 1,180 ppm. Arsenic was detected in 15 of 38, range below 1 ppm to 408 ppm. Mercury was detected in 11 of 38, 0.019 to 0.67 ppm. The reporting limit was 1.0 ppm for metals other than mercury and 0.5 ppm for mercury. Cadmium and Other Metals in Children's Jewelry
Children’s jewelry is not a food
Jewelry can be mouthed. Mouthing is not the model in an infant arsenic biomarker study or a rat gavage of arsenite and dichromate. Those papers do not test a jewelry alloy or a coating.
What remains uncertain
No cited gut study dosed children’s jewelry. A migration or content test of an article is a chemistry result.
References
Works cited in this page’s text, in first-appearance order. See Sources for this page’s source inventory. Each title links to a source record with bibliographic details, reported findings, and document provenance.
- Cadmium and Other Metals in Children’s Jewelry 2018, Follow-up StudyRegulation
- Metals in Children’s and Consumer Products and PackagingRegulation
- Cadmium and Other Metals in Children’s JewelryRegulation
Sources
Source records associated with this topic. Inclusion does not establish that every finding applies to this product or ingredient. References above identify works cited in the text.
| # | Citation | Year | Type | Used on this page for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIRS – C&K Testing (Hangzhou C&K Testing Technic Co. 2023. REACH ANNEX XVII — Restrictions on the Manufacture, Placing on the Market and Use of Certain Dangerous Substances, Mixtures and Articles, CIRS – C&K Testing (Hangzhou C&K Testing Technic Co., Ltd), Hangzhou, China; downloadable consolidated reproduction of Annex XVII to EU REACH Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006; document header states ‘Last update: 2023-07-17’. 64 pages, two-column ‘Column 1 (substance or group) / Column 2 (conditions of restriction)’ tabular layout reproducing entries 1 through 77. | 2023 | Industry | EU Pb, Cd, tHg, iHg, Cr-VI, Ni, tAs, Sn occurrence in Not a primary-measurement study. The document is a third-party reproduction of Annex XVII to EU REACH Regulation (EC)… |
| 2 | Hohenstein 2023. EU Releases New Standard For Nickel EN 1811:2023, Hohenstein Technical Bulletin (Bönnigheim, Germany; June 2023) | 2023 | Industry | EU Ni occurrence in Industry technical bulletin. No primary sampling or measurement. Summarises the published CEN standard EN 1811:2023 and identifies four… |
| 3 | Nelson 2023. Cadmium and Other Metals in Children’s Jewelry 2018, Follow-up Study, Washington State Department of Ecology, Environmental Assessment Program, Publication 23-03-004 (January 2023) | 2023 | Regulatory | US Pb, Cd, Sb, tAs, Co, tHg occurrence in 38 component samples sub-sampled from 33 of 78 children’s jewelry and apparel-with-jewelry products purchased October-December 2018 from 17… (n=38) |
| 4 | Gautam et al. 2022. Health Risk Assessment: Heavy Metals (Lead, Cadmium and Nickel) in Jewellery (Oral and Dermal Contact), Institute of Environmental Science and Research client report FW22035 for the New Zealand Ministry of Health, November 2022 | 2022 | Agency report | NZ/US/CA Pb, Cd, Ni occurrence in No original New Zealand market sampling. ESR/Ministry of Health risk assessment summarizing jewelry metal-content studies, bioaccessibility studies, regulations,… |
| 5 | Stone 2021. Metals in Children’s and Consumer Products and Packaging, Washington State Department of Ecology, Hazardous Waste and Toxics Reduction Program, Publication 14-04-014 (Revised June 2021) | 2021 | Regulatory | US Sb, tAs, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Pb, tHg, Mo, Zn occurrence in 150 component samples submitted for laboratory metals analysis, sub-sampled from 101 children’s products purchased from local Washington stores… (n=150) |
| 6 | Mohammed et al. 2020. Heavy metals in children’s toys and baby items commonly sold in Trinidad and Tobago, Journal of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology 12(1):59-64 | 2020 | Peer-reviewed | TT/EU Pb, Cd, Cr, Ni, Cu, Mn occurrence in Eighteen plastic children’s toys and baby items intended for children under 5 years of age, obtained from the… (n=18) |
| 7 | Assurance 2019. California Proposition 65 Compliance Requirements, HSN internal supplier compliance specification (issued 4 December 2019; last updated 7 April 2021) | 2019 | Industry | US-CA/US Pb, Cd occurrence in Retailer-issued compliance specification. No primary sampling or measurement. Summarises legal limits and HSN QA acceptance/rejection criteria derived from… |
| 8 | Sekerak 2016. Cadmium and Other Metals in Children’s Jewelry, Washington State Department of Ecology, Environmental Assessment Program, Publication 16-03-007 (March 2016) | 2016 | Regulatory | US Pb, Cd, Sb, tAs, Co, tHg, Mo occurrence in 38 component samples sub-sampled from 159 children’s jewelry products purchased September-October 2015 from 15 large south-Puget-Sound retail stores… (n=38) |
| 9 | Guney et al. 2012. Heavy Metals in Toys and Low-Cost Jewelry: Critical Review of U.S. and Canadian Legislations and Recommendations for Testing, Environmental Science & Technology, 2012, 46, 4265-4274 | 2012 | Review | Contribution to this topic remains under review; see the source record for its reported scope. |
| 10 | U.S. Consumer Product Safety 2011. Children’s Products Containing Lead; Technological Feasibility of 100 ppm for Lead Content; Notice of Effective Date of 100 ppm Lead Content Limit in Children’s Products — Office of General Counsel ballot memo (June 22, 2011), Draft Federal Register Notice, and Staff Briefing Package for Commission consideration at the July 13, 2011 decisional meeting; Docket No. CPSC-2010-0080, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Office of the Secretary (Commission ballot package for the July 13, 2011 decisional meeting); attached Office of General Counsel memorandum dated June 22, 2011 signed by Philip L. Chao (Assistant General Counsel) and Hyun S. Kim (Attorney, OGC), through Cheryl A. Falvey (General Counsel) and Kenneth R. Hinson (Executive Director); attached staff briefing package dated June 21, 2011 signed by Robert J. Howell (Assistant Executive Director, Office of Hazard Identification and Reduction), Kristina M. Hatlelid (Ph.D., M.P.H., Toxicologist, Directorate for Health Sciences), and Dominique J. Williams (Toxicologist, Directorate for Health Sciences); Tab A Engineering Sciences memorandum by Randy Butturini and Thomas Caton (Directorate for Engineering Sciences, Office of Hazard Identification and Reduction), dated May 7, 2011; Tab B Economic Analysis memorandum by William W. Zamula and Deborah V. Aiken, Ph.D. (Directorate for Economic Analysis), through Gregory B. Rodgers, Ph.D., dated May 9, 2011 | 2011 | Government guidance | US/CA/IL Pb occurrence in Commission ballot package, draft Federal Register notice, and staff briefing package addressing the technological feasibility of the Consumer… |
| 11 | Hatlelid et al. 2010. Children’s Cadmium-Containing Metal Jewelry — Staff Report, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Directorate for Health Sciences (Staff Report, October 2010) | 2010 | Government guidance | US Cd occurrence in No primary measurements of cadmium in jewelry are reported in this document. The Staff Report derives acute and… |
| 12 | Hitchcock et al. 2010. Trouble in Toyland: The 25th Annual Survey of Toy Safety, U.S. PIRG Education Fund, November 2010 | 2010 | NGO report | US Pb, Sb, Cd occurrence in 98 toys and children’s jewelry purchased at retail in September-October 2010 and XRF-screened (337 individual XRF screens performed… (n=260) |
| 13 | U.S. Consumer Product Safety 2009. Children’s Products Containing Lead; Notice of Proposed Procedures and Requirements for a Commission Determination or Exclusion (16 CFR 1500.89 and 1500.90); and companion Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Proposed Determinations Regarding Lead Content Limits on Certain Materials or Products, Federal Register, Vol. 74, No. 10, January 15, 2009 (proposed rules); pp. 2428-2433 (FR Doc. E9-715, signed Todd A. Stevenson, Secretary, January 9, 2009) and pp. 2433+ (companion NPR on natural-materials determinations); contact point Kristina M. Hatlelid, Ph.D., M.P.H., Directorate for Health Sciences | 2009 | Government guidance | US Pb occurrence in Federal Register issue of January 15, 2009 reproducing two companion CPSC notices of proposed rulemaking under CPSIA Section… |
| 14 | U.S. Consumer Product Safety 2009. Children’s Products Containing Lead; Interpretative Rule on Inaccessible Component Parts (16 CFR 1500.87) — Commission ballot package: draft Federal Register notice, staff guidance memorandum, and response to public comments, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Office of the Secretary (ballot package for the 16 CFR Part 1500 final interpretative rule under CPSIA Section 101(b)(2)); attached staff memoranda authored by Robert J. Howell (Assistant Executive Director, Office of Hazard Identification and Reduction) and Kristina M. Hatlelid (Ph.D., M.P.H., Toxicologist, Directorate for Health Sciences) | 2009 | Government guidance | US Pb occurrence in Commission ballot package and draft Federal Register notice promulgating the final interpretative rule codified at 16 CFR 1500.87… |
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