Leaded Kids' Jewelry Sales Banned In Mass.

After random tests revealed that one in 10 pieces of children's jewelry sold in Massachusetts contain dangerously high levels of lead, Massachusetts health officials said Wednesday that the manufacture, transport or sale of children's leaded jewelry will be banned in the state.

"Because high levels of lead in toy jewelry can present long-term health consequences for children, we think this new regulation will go a long to way to protect the health of children in the Commonwealth," Department of Public Health Commissioner John Auerbach said.

By collecting and testing jewelry samples from vending machines, children's toy sections of retail stores and jewelry counters in Massachusetts in 2007, the DPH found one in 10 samples had high levels of lead. Although the number has decreased from a test conducted in 2004, the results are still unacceptable, the DPH said.

The new regulations apply to children's leaded jewelry manufactured, shipped or sold at retail or wholesale, indoor or outdoor, over-the-Internet or through catalogs. This includes jewelry sold in vending machines, toy stores or toy displays, toy departments or toy sections and jewelry that may use images or otherwise be designed or packaged to be especially attractive to children, the DPH said.

"The larger retail outlets, those stores tend to say if we can't sell it in this state, then we can't sell it in any state. So they tend to change their behaviors nationwide. That is really what we are hoping for in Massachusetts," said Suzanne Condon, of the DPH.

The current Massachusetts Lead Law bans toys, eating or drinking utensils with a coating of paint, enamel or glaze with a lead content of 600 parts per million or greater, but the law does not apply to lead in metallic form, the DPH said.

The new regulations will define children's leaded jewelry as any jewelry marketed to or intended for use by children under 14 years of age; jewelry that contains a concentration of lead that either is more than 600 ppm total lead content as determined by the U.S. screening test for total lead analysis or similar methods subject to the approval of DPH; or jewelry that would expose a child to greater than 15 micrograms of lead per day over a chronic exposure period.

The regulations will go into effect in June 2008. When the regulations go into effect, they will be the toughest lead restrictions in the country.

"Many of the states have moved toward trying to address these issues on a more local level. What we did in Massachusetts was to really try to look at this comprehensively and design a standard that we believe should be met by everyone," Condon said.

Vendors caught violating the law face up to a $5,000 fine or imprisonment. Spot checks will be conducted across the state to ensure compliance, the DPH said.
Source: thebostonchannel