Editor’s Note
**Editor’s Note:** This article highlights alarming findings from the Metal-Mechanical Institute, where a pair of earrings was found to contain cadmium levels 4,500 times above the permitted limit. The severe health risks associated with cadmium exposure underscore the urgent need for stricter oversight and consumer awareness regarding toxic materials in jewelry.
Tests conducted by the Metal-Mechanical Institute reveal that a pair of earrings exceeds the permitted cadmium level by 4,500 times.
A. QUEVEDO
12/02/2015 at 00:05h.
Valencia. Cancer, lactation and reproductive problems, and even hormonal system disruption and DNA damage. This is what cadmium can cause—a highly toxic metal found in five earrings, rings, and bracelets analyzed by the Metal-Mechanical Technological Institute (Aimme). It can also cause vomiting and diarrhea, bone weakening, or psychological damage.
The Valencian Association of Consumers and Users (Avacu), on the occasion of Valentine’s Day, commissioned the analysis. To this end, they purchased a total of 17 pieces—nine costume jewelry items and eight silver jewelry pieces—from different establishments in the city of Valencia during January. The study results are more than “alarming, it’s no joke,” specifies Gaspar Lloret, director and head of the Analysis and Contrast laboratory at Aimme, since “it is a metal with high restrictions due to its high toxicity,” he points out. In the silver pieces, two of them showed high cadmium results: one at 550 times (5.5%) above the permitted level and another at 72 times (7.2%). In the costume jewelry pieces, the cadmium percentages are even worse. Three of the nine pieces do not comply with regulations: in one of them, specifically a pair of earrings, it exceeds the limit by 4,500 times (45%); in another, a ring, by 3,600 times (36%).
And how can it affect health? These are rings, earrings, and bracelets that, when in contact with the skin and “with different household liquids, their risk is maximum,” Lloret specifies. Most of the analyzed pieces are imported. In the case of the silver pieces, they are of Asian origin, according to Aimme.
In addition to the toxic metal found, the study also determined that two of the silver pieces are not of first quality, meaning “their silver content is below 925 thousandths,” according to Avacu. Of all the pieces studied, only one was found to be “fully” compliant as it contains no risky substances. The Testing and Contrast laboratory also evaluated nickel and lead metals. During the past year, this scientific department conducted over half a million analyses of jewelry pieces.