Editor’s Note
Customs officers at Roissy airport seized 10,440 costume jewelry bracelets imported from China, found to contain lead levels 100 times the legal limit. Analysis revealed 4.7% lead in metal parts, posing serious consumer risks.
Customs officers at Roissy airport have seized a shipment of jewelry deemed dangerous for consumers, containing 100 times the maximum allowed level of lead.
Imported from China, these 10,440 costume jewelry bracelets were intended for the French market. Following analysis by the Joint Customs and DGCCRF Laboratories (SCL) on samples taken, the jewelry contained excessive levels of lead. The lead content in the metal parts of these items seized at Roissy airport reached 4.7%, nearly 100 times the maximum allowed limit of 0.05%. Another part contained 11.8 mg/kg of chromium VI, nearly four times the regulatory maximum of 3 mg/kg.
These jewelry items, seized on March 17, will be destroyed, as reported by Europe1. To ensure consumer safety, French customs controls between 2,000 and 3,000 jewelry lots each year. Among the jewelry samples taken and analyzed by the SCL, more than 30% are non-compliant due to excessive levels of nickel, lead, or cadmium.
Regarding all imported products, customs ensures compliance with standards. In 2016, 8.2 million items were declared non-compliant, including nearly 236,000 that were both non-compliant and dangerous.
