Cadmium is the new lead.
Barred from using lead in children’s jewellery because of its toxicity, some Chinese manufacturers have been substituting the heavy metal cadmium in jewellery items sold in the USA.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a notice stating that they will begin regulating the use of cadmium content in children’s jewellery. On 16 September 2011 the Commission directed CPSC staff to begin drafting a proposed rule unless a voluntary standard for cadmium in children’s jewellery is published by ASTM International within three months after 16 September 2011.
Cadmium is a restricted substance worldwide. According to the EU directive 76/769/EEC, the maximum limit of cadmium to be found in any finished product is 100mg/kg (100ppm). In order to comply with the above mentioned legislation, products must be tested under EN 71-3 which also covers the EU directive 88/378/EEC – safety in toys. This restricts the extractable value to 75ppm in any product which is appealing to a child.
In the leather industry this problem would mainly arise from using cadmium-containing pigments. Another way that they could appear is as heat and UV stabilisers in plastics such as PVC, which in turn would contaminate the surface covering of some leather products. When thinking about the level of cadmium in finished products it is important to make sure that the packaging is also taken into consideration.
Conclusions: Cadmium is a toxic metal, is potentially a very harmful element and needs to be controlled in industrial applications. The leather industry must be diligent in ensuring cadmium based chemicals are kept to a minimum.
For further information on cadmium testing and heavy metals testing please contact info@blcleathertech.com.
BLC members receive a 30% discount on all chemical testing and leather testing.
Sources
http://www.cpsc.gov/businfo/frnotices/fr11/cadmium.pdf
