Cheap and Toxic – REACH Can Not Check It All

Just Some Of The Jewellery Contaminated With Chemicals Jan-Mar 2025 Europe Safety Check l

The dark side of mass-produced fashion jewellery

The European Commission announced on May 20th, 2011, that the European Union will ban cadmium in jewellery, brazing sticks and plastics beginning November that year. A Commission press release states that the new legislation, which will be adopted as an amendment under the EU’s Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation, will prohibit the use of cadmium in all types of jewellery products, except antiques; brazing sticks, which are used to join dissimilar materials; and — in theory — all plastics.

Why?

Cadmium (Cd) is a widespread environmental contaminant that has a wide range of adverse effects on human health. The risks include kidney and bone damage, various cancers, and neurological injury in children (Waalkes, M. P: 2003), (Rodríguez-Barranco, M. et al: 2014), (Gustin, K. et al: 2018). “Cadmium is a representative toxic heavy metal with a half-life of 10–30 years in living organisms. Thus, Cd is the most toxic substance known to accumulate in the body and poses a strong safety threat to living organisms” (Hu, L. et al: 2024).

All soils and rocks, including coal and mineral fertilizers, contain some cadmium. It is extracted during the production of other metals like zinc, lead, and copper. Cadmium does not corrode easily and has many uses, including batteries, pigments, metal coatings, and plastics.

Cadmium can be measured in blood, urine, hair, and nails. The amount in your blood, can show your recent exposure. Even better, the amount in your urine shows both, your recent and past exposure and accurately reflects the amount of cadmium in the body.

The use of cadmium to produce inexpensive jewellery continues to be documented. An evaluation of the bioavailability of Cadmium (Cd) in 86 components of 57 jewellery items found to contain high levels of Cd (> 10,000 ppm) (Weidenhamer, J. D. et al: 2011). And again, in their research Cadmium was detected in 40% of jewellery items purchased at a discount jewellery store (Weidenhamer, J. D: 2021).

China is the second largest trader in cadmium and tops in jewellery exports. The presence of heavy metals in jewellery has become common practice because of the lower price of raw materials contaminated and thus the low price of the final jewellery

product. The rise of online platforms as pose significant health and environmental risks due to the potential presence of heavy metal contaminants. China for instance, cadmium was found in low-cost jewellery for adults (Jurowski, K 2023). An analysis by (Wen, X et al: 2022) reveal that low-cost jewellery for adults was contaminated with heavy metals and have a significant environmental impact, 51% of the samples exceeded the EU limit for Cadmium (>100 μ g/g) which is alarming and is a concern. Those who work with cadmium, must use all safety precautions to avoid carrying its dust home from work on their clothing, skin, hair, or tools. There is evidence that workers who engaged in soldering and assemblers had higher Cadmium concentrations than individuals not working with jewellery production. (Fernanda Junqueira Salles, et al: 2021) which found all the soldering powder exceeded Brazilian limits. Occupational exposure to this element in the household environment should be explored further. Especially with the explosion of jewellery making kits sold online from China, as they pose a health risk to family members and workers alike.

This is an extremely important issue from both the point of view of human health, the environment, and even regulatory toxicology. Yet governments around the world have adopted varying standards. The evidence is there, leakage will happen. Jewellery maybe cheap but your health, life is not. Think.

World Ban.

Fernanda Junqueira Salles, David Johnson Braga Tavares, Bruna Moreira Freire, Ana Paula Sacone da Silva Ferreira, Evangelos Handakas, Bruno Lemos Batista, Kelly Polido Kaneshiro Olympio. (2021) “Home-based informal jewellery production increases exposure of working families to cadmium”. Science of The Total Environment, Volume 785. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147297

Gustin, K. Tofail, F. Vahter, M. Kippler, M. (2018) “Cadmium exposure and cognitive abilities and behavior at 10 years of age: A prospective cohort study”. Environment International, Volume 113, Pages 259-268. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412017321025

Hu, L. Feng, X. Lan, Y. Zhang, J. Nie, P. Xu, H. (2024) “Co-exposure with cadmium elevates the toxicity of microplastics: Trojan horse effect from the perspective of intestinal barrier”. Journal of Hazardous Materials, Volume 466. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304389424001663

Jurowski, K. (2023) “The toxicological assessment of hazardous elements (Pb, Cd and Hg) in low-cost jewellery for adults from Chinese E-commerce platforms: In situ analysis by portable X-ray fluorescence measurement” Journal of Hazardous Materials, Volume 460. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304389423014504

Rodríguez-Barranco, M. Lacasaña, M. Gil, F. Lorca, A. Alguacil, J. Rohlman, D. S. González-Alzaga, B. Molina-Villalba, I. Mendoza, R. Aguilar-Garduño C. (2014) “Cadmium exposure and neuropsychological development in school children in southwestern Spain”. Environmental Research, Volume 134, Pages 66-73. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0013935114002229

Waalkes, M. P. (2003) “Cadmium carcinogenesis”. Mutation Research/Fundamental and Molecular Mechanisms of Mutagenesis, Volume 533, Issues 1–2, Pages 107-120. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0027510703002112

Weidenhamer, J. D. Miller, J. Guinn, D. Pearson, J. (2011) “Bioavailability of Cadmium in Inexpensive Jewellery”. Environmental Health Perspectives. https://www.academia.edu/21164289/Bioavailability_of_Cadmium_in_Inexpensive_Jewelry

Weidenhamer, J. D. Kern, M. S. Boron, M. L. (2021) “Buyer beware: Inexpensive, high cadmium jewellery can pose severe health risks”. Science of The Total Environment, Volume 764.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142926

Wen, X. Li, T. Xu, X. (2022) “Cadmium exposure in US adults, research based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1988 to 2018”. Environmental Science & Pollution Research, Volume 29, Issue 15, pages 22293–22305 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-17484-5