SAFEGUARDS Hardlines SGS CONSUMER TESTING SERVICES NO. 060/07 JULY 2007
The State of Minnesota Restricts Lead Content in Jewelry
The State of Minnesota joins California and Illinois as well as the City of Baltimore in Maryland in regulating lead in jewelry products (Safeguards 43/07* and references therein). The Governor of Minnesota in the US recently signed the Senate File (SF) 1262 into law to limit lead content in jewelry products. The classification and requirements for jewelry products were essentially based on Assembly Bill (AB) 1681, Chapter 415, from the State of California (Safeguards 43/07*).
Chapter 132 of the Senate File (SF) 1262 ‘An Act Products that are not children’s jewelry or body Relating to Commerce; Regulating the Manufacture piercing jewelry shall be made entirely from a and Sale of Jewelry Products Containing Lead, Class 1, Class 2 or Class 3 material, or any restricts the use of lead in metal and non-metal combination thereof. components in jewelry products. From 1 September 2007, no person shall offer for sale, sell, label, or Class 1 Materials distribute for free any jewelry represented to contain • Stainless and surgical steels safe levels of lead, unless the jewelry is made • Karat gold, entirely from a Class 1, Class 2, or Class 3 material, • Sterling silver, or any combination thereof. • Platinum, palladium, iridium, ruthenium, rhodium or osmium, Under the law, jewelry is any ornament worn by a • Natural and cultured pearls, person such as anklet, arm cuff, bracelet, brooch, • Glass, ceramic, and crystal decorative chain, crown, cuff link, decorated hair accessories, components [e.g. cat’s eye, cubic zirconia earring, necklace, pin, ring or body piercing jewelry (including cubic zirconium or CZ), glass, or bead, chain, link, pendant, or other component of rhinestones and cloisonné, such an ornament. The products are divided into 3 • A gemstone that is cut and polished for categories: ornamental purposes except aragonite, bayldonite, boleite, cerussite, crocoite, 1) Adult ekanite, linarite, mimetite, phosgenite, samarskite, vanadinite and wulfenite, 2) Children: made for, marketed for use by, or • Elastic, fabric, ribbon, rope and string unless marketed to children age 6 and younger. it contains intentionally added lead and is listed as a Class 2 material, 3) Body Piercing: any part of jewelry that is • All natural decorative materials (e.g. amber, manufactured or sold for placement in a new piercing bone, coral, feathers, fur, horn, leather, or a mucous membrane, but does not include any shell, wood) that are in their natural state or part of that jewelry that is not placed within a new are not treated with added lead, piercing or a mucous membrane. • Adhesives.
* http://newsletter.sgs.com/eNewsletterPro/uploadedimages/000006/SafeGuards_Lead_Restriction_US.pdf Hardlines
Class 2 Materials
Class 2 Material Permissible Level of Lead Effective date
Metal substrates that are electroplated < 10 % Until 30 August 2009
Metal substrates that are electroplated < 6 % From 31 August 2009
Unplated metal (non-Class 1 Material) < 1.5 % 1 September 2007
Plastic or Rubber (e.g. acrylic, polystyrene, < 0.06 % (< 600 ppm) Until 30 August 2009 plastic beads/stones and PVC)
Plastic or Rubber (e.g. acrylic, polystyrene, < 0.02 % (< 200 ppm) From 31 August 2009 plastic beads/stones and PVC)
Dyes and surface coatings* < 0.06 % (< 600 ppm) 1 September 2007
* Surface coating refers to a fluid, semi-fluid, or other material, with or without a suspension of finely divided colouring matter, that changes to a solid film when a thin layer is applied to a surface. It does not include a printing ink or a material which actually becomes a part of the substrate such as pigment in a plastic article.
Class 3 Materials Body Piercing Jewellery • Any material that is not a Class 1 or These shall be made of one or more of the Class 2 Component and contains < 0.06 following materials: % (< 600 ppm) lead. • Surgical implant stainless steel, • Surgical implant grades of Titanium, Children’s Jewellery • Niobium (Nb), These shall be made entirely from one or • Solid 14 karat or higher white or yellow more of the following materials: nickel-free gold, • A non-metallic material that is a Class 1 • Solid platinum, material, • A dense low porosity of plastic such as • A non-metallic material that is a Class 2 Tygon or PTFE with no intentionally material, added lead. • A metallic material that is either a Class 1 material or contains < 0.06 % (< 600 ppm) lead, • Glass or crystal decorative components that weigh in total no more than 1.0 g, excluding any such glass or crystal decorative component that contains < 0.02 % (< 200 ppm) lead and have no intentionally added lead, • Printing ink or ceramic glaze that contains < 0.06 % (< 600 ppm) lead, • Class 3 material that contains < 0.02 % (200 ppm) lead. • Any of the above combination Hardlines
The following map illustrates the locations in the US (California, Illinois, Minnesota and the City of Baltimore) where there are regulations for lead content in jewelry products:
Please also refer to our previous SafeGuards n°047/07 about US EPA legal challenge settled on lead in toy jewellery, (http:// newsletter.sgs.com/eNewsletterPro/uploadedimages/000006/SafeGuards_04707_US_Lead_in_Toy_Jewellery.pdf), SafeGuards n°043/07 for information on lead restriction on jewellery and consumer products in California, Illinois and City of Baltimore (http://newsletter.sgs.com/eNewsletterPro/uploadedimages/000006/SafeGuards_Lead_Restriction_US.pdf) and SafeGuards n° 040/07 for information about lead in consumer products in Illinois (http://newsletter.sgs.com/eNewsletterPro/ uploadedimages/000006/SafeGuards_2004007_Lead_in_consumer_products_illinois.pdf).
Throughout their global network of laboratories SGS can offer a range of analytical testing and consultancy services, including using the recom- mended procedures as detailed in the law for lead in jewelry products.
Please do not hesitate to contact us for further
© 2007 SGS. All rights reserved. This is a publication For enquiries: of SGS, except for 3rd parties’ contents submitted or Global Competences Support Centre, [email protected] licensed for use by SGS. SGS neither endorses nor
disapproves said 3rd parties contents. This publication HK—HingWo Tsang + 852 2774 7420 or [email protected] is intended to provide technical information and shall not be considered an exhaustive treatment of any subject treated. It is strictly educational and does not replace any legal requirements or applicable Asia – Hong Kong Tel: +852 2334 4481 Fax: +852 2144 7001 [email protected] regulations. It is not intended to constitute consulting or Australasia — Perth Tel: +61 (0) 3 9790 3418 Fax: +61 (0) 3 9701 0988 [email protected] Europe – London, UK Tel: +44(0) 20 8991 3410 Fax: +44 (0) 20 8991 3417 [email protected] professional advice. The information contained herein Africa & Middle East – Turkey. Tel: +90 212 225 0024 Fax: +90 212 296 47 82 [email protected] is provided “as is” and SGS does not warrant that it will Americas – USA. Tel: +1 973 575 5252 Fax: +1 973 575 1193 [email protected] be error-free or will meet any particular criteria of Web: www.sgs.com Global Competences Support Centre: [email protected] performance or quality. Do not quote or refer any If you wish to unsubscribe to this technical bulletin, go here: Unsubscribe information herein without SGS’s prior written consent.