On 15 March 2016, Washington state’s Department of Ecology (Ecology) has published inspection results for seven heavy metals (including lead and cadmium) in children’s products. The results show that jewellery items sold together with clothing contain high levels of cadmium and lead, which are in violation of the state’s Consumer Safety Product Act (CSPA).

During September to October in 2015, Ecology staff purchased 159 articles of children's jewellery from from 15 large south Puget Sound retail stores and 3 online retailers. The product inspection involved cadmium, lead, and five other toxic metals (antimony, arsenic, cobalt, mercury, and molyb-denum) in children’s jewellery with CSPA and federal laws as the legal bases.

Current Washington law restricts levels of cadmium and lead in children’s products to levels of 40 ppm and 90 ppm, respectively. State law also requires manufacturers to report to Ecology if a product contains any Chemicals of High Concern to Children (CHCC), including antimony, arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, mercury, and molybdenum.

According to the test, four pieces of jewellery items sold together with clothing are containing concerning levels of cadmium. In four pieces of jewelry sold packaged with a girl's clothing item, Ecology's testing found cadmium at levels up to 984,000 parts per million, meaning the item was 98 percent cadmium. Ecology has notified the manufacturers of the jewelry that they are in violation of Washington's Children's Safe Products Act and could be required to take corrective action or be subject to penalties.

One separate necklace sold with a dress contained 50,100 parts per million lead, meaning it was 5 percent lead. Federal law preempts Washington's standards for lead in children's jewelry, so Ecology referred its test results to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Washington’s Department of Ecology has issued a guidance document, clarifying the enforcement of lead, cadmium and phthalates limits under its Children’s Safe Products Act (CSPA) on 12 Feb. 2016. The inspection is the first practice of the enforcement guidance and beneficial for businesses to understand the guidance.

Exporters should be aware of regulations for different children’s products and the applicable scope for related regulation, which is helpful for them to find solutions or choose professional testing bodies for technical support. C&K Testing can offer you with compliance tests for your plans to avoid technical trade barriers.