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Heavy Metal Index

China GB 28480-2012 - harmful elements in adornments

Scope GB 28480-2012 covers adornments of various materials, excluding gems.

Scope

GB 28480-2012 covers adornments of various materials, excluding gems. It defines children’s jewellery as jewellery for children aged 14 years and under.

Exact limit and units

Metal or provisionMatrixLimitUnitBasis
Nickel releasePiercing articles during wound healing0.2microgram/cm2/weekrelease rate; not converted to µg/kg
Nickel releaseArticles in prolonged skin contact0.5microgram/cm2/weekrelease rate; not converted to µg/kg
AsMetal adornments or metal adornment parts1,000mg/kgtotal content
Cr(VI)Metal adornments or metal adornment parts1,000mg/kgtotal content
HgMetal adornments or metal adornment parts1,000mg/kgtotal content
PbMetal adornments or metal adornment parts1,000mg/kgtotal content
CdMetal adornments or metal adornment parts100mg/kgtotal content
PbChildren’s jewellery300mg/kgtotal content
SbChildren’s jewellery60mg/kgsoluble element
AsChildren’s jewellery25mg/kgsoluble element
CdChildren’s jewellery75mg/kgsoluble element
CrChildren’s jewellery60mg/kgsoluble element
PbChildren’s jewellery90mg/kgsoluble element
HgChildren’s jewellery60mg/kgsoluble element

How tested

Nickel release is measured under GB/T 19719 and GB/T 28485 as applicable. Hexavalent chromium is measured under GB/T 28019, and other harmful elements are measured under GB/T 28020 or GB/T 28021.

Enforcement posture

The standard is a mandatory national standard for covered adornments in China. Products that do not meet the applicable total-content, soluble-element, and nickel-release requirements are not compliant with the standard.

History of changes

GB 28480-2012 was issued as a Chinese national standard for harmful-element limits in adornments. The local source is the 2012 edition.

How it compares

The children’s-jewellery soluble-element table aligns closely with legacy toy-migration values for Sb, As, Cd, Cr, Pb, and Hg, while the total-content row adds separate limits for metal adornment materials. The nickel release provisions are important for compliance but use area/time units rather than mass fraction.

Sources

Update history

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