CPSC denies request to exclude beads from new standards

WASHINGTON – The federal Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has denied a request to exclude crystal beads, including rhinestones, from the strict standards in effect for lead content in jewelry and other products made for children under 13 years old.
The commission on July 17 announced the 2-1 decision, acting on a request filed by the Fashion Jewelry Trade Association, based in North Kingstown, the Manufacturing Jewelers and Suppliers of America Inc., which recently relocated from Providence to Attleboro, and other national trade groups.
The decision means that children’s jewelry must contain no more than 600 parts per million (ppm) of lead, a standard imposed in February and scheduled to drop to 300 ppm as of Aug. 14, in accord with the federal Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) enacted last year and covering a wide range of products to protect children from lead.
The trade associations argued that the amount of lead ingested if a child swallows a rhinestone or crystal bead would be so slight that no danger would be presented to the overall health of the child. However, acting on recommendations from the CPSC staff, commissioners who voted against the exclusion noted that the amount of leachable lead in crystal beads varies and that emergency room data shows jewelry is one of the top items ingested by children.
The decision is a blow to local jewelry manufacturers who rely heavily on selling children’s pieces decorated with rhinestones and crystals. One manufacturer, Alan Green, president of Argo Products Inc. in Johnston, said he is using what he considers to be inferior plastic material to replace rhinestones in his pieces. &#8226