Inexpensive fashion jewelry sold at teen stores like Wet Seal, Forever 21, Claire’s and Charlotte Russe is laden with lead, according to a new study by the Center for Environmental Health. The study found lead-tainted jewelry in 10 California stores.
From Greener Design:
Two recent studies, both published in the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences’s peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives, demonstrated the impacts that lead exposure during pregnancy can have on a woman’s unborn child.
One study, investigating children’s IQ scores in relation to their mother’s blood lead level, concluded that lead exposure during pregnancy could have “lasting and possibly permanent effects” on a child’s IQ. The second study showed that lead exposure during the first trimester (three month period), when some women are not even aware that they are pregnant, had the most pronounced effects on a child’s mental development.
The other stores on the list include The Buckle, Cost Plus, DD’s Discount, Express, Saks Fifth Avenue and Styles for Less. It’s not yet known how many of these jewelry items may have been imported from China, where lead contamination in manufacturing plants is all too common.
It would be easy to simply say “don’t buy cheap crap”, but especially considering that kids and teens seem to be getting the short end of the stick in terms of lead-contaminated jewelry and toys, that’s not really fair. It sucks that we can’t count on retailers to protect us and our children from this sort of thing. Hell, we can’t even trust the government to protect us. May I suggest a switch to all-natural handmade jewelry instead?
Link [Greener Design]
