This week Illinois became the second
state to enact a ban on cadmium in children’s jewelry, according to a June 29
statement from the Manufacturing Jewelers and Suppliers of America.

The law, which goes into effect July 1,
limits the toxic metal to 75 parts per million (ppm) in any surface coating or
accessible substrate of jewelry. It requires companies to measure the amount of
cadmium that can “migrate” or leach out of a sample of jewelry over a two-hour
period, when the sample is immersed in a solution that simulates digestive
acid.  

A similar cadmium ban was passed in January in Minnesota. However, the two laws differ in that Illinois specifies that
children are “12 and under,” while Minnesota defines children as under
six.

Three other states—California,
Maryland, and Connecticut—have also passed laws banning cadmium in children’s
jewelry, but those laws will not take effect until 2012, in the case of
California and Maryland. Connecticut’s law takes effect in 2014. 

Industry groups, including the MJSA,
recently came together with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to
develop a standard for children’s jewelry.

That group produced a draft Safety
Standard with recommendations on cadmium limits. If  adopted by the CPSC, the standard would likely supersede
state cadmium laws and ultimately create a national standard.

For more information, MJSA members can
visit mjsa.org
to view the MJSA
Guide to
Cadmium in Jewelry and cadmium-related State Law Chart. The association also offers
a list of member labs that conduct appropriate testing for cadmium in
children’s jewelry.

JCK