CEH – Consumer Watchdog Finds Illegal Jewelry

Oakland, CA-The Center for Environmental Health (CEH) announced today that it has found high lead levels in jewelry purchased from major retailers, including WalMart, Banana Republic, Lane Bryant, Express, Anchor Blue, Abercrombie and Fitch, and Longs Drugs (now part of CVS Caremark pharmacies). The California Attorney General yesterday sent a notice of violation of the jewelry law to WalMart, and has recently notified four of the other retailers (Lane Bryant, Express, Anchor Blue, and Longs) about their illegal jewelry. CEH is notifying Banana Republic today, and recently notified Abercrombie and Fitch that their jewelry violates the state’s Prop 65 consumer protection law.

I wonder if these corporations even realized that there were state laws in California regulating lead levels in jewelry?

A surface coating on a WalMart store-brand green frog charm for a child’s necklace tested as high as 37% lead, more than 600 times over the standard set by the state law that was developed from CEH’s landmark January 2006 settlement with the jewelry industry. The surface coating has variable lead levels, with some pieces testing at more than three times the legal limit.

Will any of these corporations have any comment about this?