Lab Testing Assistance
In recent years, federal and state legislators and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) have increasingly focused on the metals used in jewelry manufacturing. In 2008, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act set new federal lead standards for children’s jewelry (300 ppm as of Aug. 14, 2009), and the CPSC and legislators are now looking into testing standards for cadmium and other toxic metals.
That’s where MJSA can help.
For Lead Testing
MJSA’s members include two labs accredited by the Consumer Product Safety Commission:
Mutual Cornell Environmental
Providence, Rhode Island
1-401-274-9998
mutualcornell.com
Toy Testing Lab
Warwick, Rhode Island
1-401-562-1323
toytestinglab.com
The CPSC accreditation enables them to fulfill the federal CPSIA law’s third-party lab testing requirement, which calls for measuring the total weight of lead in children’s jewelry to ensure that products are under 300 ppm. In addition, the labs can serve as resources for any member company that must meet California and Minnesota laws requiring the documentation of lead compliance for all jewelry.
Both labs can test for the total weight content of lead down to 40 ppm, a benchmark that has been set by an Illinois law that requires a warning label on children’s jewelry that contains less than 300 parts per million (ppm) of lead content (the baseline mandated by the CPSIA), but more than 40 ppm.
For Testing of Cadmium and Other Heavy Metals
Both of MJSA’s member labs also perform the migration testing described in both the European standard, EN 71-3, as well as in the ASTM standard F 963, to measure a variety of heavy metals, including cadmium. The EN 71-3 standard is widely used in other parts of the world to test for cadmium in children’s jewelry. The ASTM F 963 standard’s testing has been cited by at least three states that have introduced legislation to regulate cadmium in children’s jewelry. MJSA members: Click here to request an updated list of state legislation and laws currently restricting cadmium in children’s jewelry.
To learn more, e-mail MJSA, or submit a membership application to begin receiving all of MJSA’s benefits.