Kids’ Jewerly & Charms Found To Be Loaded with Toxic Cadmium

Since manufacturers have been banned from using lead in childrens’ toys and jewelry, some Chinese factories are now using an even more toxic metal — cadmium — in the items.

Charms and trinkets found in Wal-Mart stores and Claire’s boutiques were tested in an investigative report by the Associated Press and 12% of them contained the highly toxic metal.

Cadmium is a known carcinogen that can slow brain development in children. “There’s nothing positive that you can say about this metal. It’s a poison,” Bruce Fowler, a cadmium specialist and toxicologist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the AP. On the CDC’s priority list of 275 most hazardous substances in the environment, cadmium ranks No. 7.

So why are manufacturers using cadmium? Not only is it cheap, but current regulations don’t prohibit it’s use despite the toxicity.  Though they wouldn’t  address the known dangers, Wal-Mart said in a statement that, “We consistently seek to sell only those products that meet safety and regulatory standards. Currently there is no required cadmium standard for children’s jewelry.”

Read more about specific charms and jewelry items tested and about the dangers of cadmium in the AP report.