Cadmium In Chinese Earrings?

A. Hi, Angelo.

We can't say whether a specific piece of jewelry has cadmium in it without analyzing it. Nor can we say whether that is what is responsible for the rash because lots of people are allergic to nickel, and many others get rashes perhaps related to bacteria or fungus from jewelry that has no allergen metal in it.

But as to the question of whether it is possible that it has cadmium in it, the answer is: absolutely! It's not just children's jewelry that was loaded with cadmium; adult jewelry from China & India often has very substantial amounts of cadmium in it too:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/02/03/health/main6168784.shtml ⇩

Although I don't believe that anything on this subject has been deliberately "pulled from the Internet", it is certainly true that if a small American jeweler did once what we let China do every day, the owners might die in jail. If a plating shop in America accidentally dropped a piece of that jewelry down their toilet, they'd exceed their cadmium discharge limit. Plating businesses have been shuttered for putting down a sewer less cadmium than what was in a typical piece of trademarked children's jewelry from China last year :-)

Regards,

[Ed. update: The above link is broken -- today's news media probably doesn't deliberately "pull" information, but they do let it become inaccessible. Thankfully, Internet Archive saved a copy here of that article
Yes, these days information appears in the news, then disappears without any record that it ever even happened :-(
If that is a concern to you, please consider a donation to The Internet Archive, perhaps our last line of defense against Orwell's "Every record has been destroyed or falsified ..."  

A. Sir:
Also check for nickel.
Regards,

A. Angelo, Where did you get the idea that the problem is caused by cadmium? It is more than likely to be nickel, which until recently was an accepted additive in the western world for hardening both gold and silver. It is now prohibited, at least in Europe and hopefully the USA. Although the articles are made in China, it is the responsibility of the importer to ensure it meets local sales standards. I suggest your wife goes to a dermatologist and gets tested for nickel allergy - an estimated 10-15% of the population suffer from it.

A. Hi, Trevor.

The local news is different in the UK than in the USA, I'm sure, but we had a scandal of cadmium problems in childrens jewelry from China. Millions of pieces of Disney-labeled children's jewelry were recalled last year after tests showed Cadmium content as high as 70%.

Nickel causes dermatitis and I wish it were not in any jewelry, but it's legal in the US. Cadmium is not just an allergen but a chronic bioaccumulative poison whose presence in children's jewelry was met, rather unbelievably, with a rather routine, "oh well, accidents happen, let's not make a big deal of it".

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

A. Ted, I am not aware of dermatitis being caused by cadmium, but I am very happy to learn if it does cause it. As far as I am aware, cadmium is a highly toxic metal, that causes vomiting and nausea, as well as attacking the lungs, kidneys and bones. However, if anyone can correct me on this, I will happily bow down to superior knowledge.

It is a pity the USA hasn't banned nickel in jewellery - it would solve a lot of dermatological problems and reduce the fears of many consumers and members of the American public.

Trevor Crichton
R&D practical scientist
Chesham, Bucks, UK

Thanks, Trevor.

Sorry, I wasn't claiming that cadmium causes dermatitis; it's not within my area of expertise and I don't know one way or the other. Apologies.

Rather, I was explaining the probable reason the inquirer suspected cadmium in his wife's jewelry might be the cause of the itch.

I agree that there should not be any nickel in jewelry. But I'm personally even more concerned that we've repeatedly seen cadmium in jewelry in the last several years, as much as 70% pure, but the problem gets little traction.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

Hi guys,
I know that prolonged skin contact with cadmium causes development of sensitivity issues. One of my cadmium platers told me once that in early years he encountered these problems. Touching cadmium felt like being stung by nettles. Besides the damage it can do to organs it is a carcinogenic, mutagenic and teratogenic substance.

regards,

Jeroen Visser
- Geldrop, Netherlands

Ed. note: Thanks Jeroen!

? Hi Mukesh. Please introduce yourself and your situation. What is it that is made of cadmium, and requires gold plating and why?

Cadmium is a biocumulative poison; here in the USA we only use cadmium plating for legacy applications on critical life-dependent aerospace applications. Some other countries don't permit cadmium at all. Please don't tell us that you're planning on putting this biocumulative poison into jewelry :-(

Regards,

Hi again Mukesh. Please take this opportunity to switch away from this alloy to brass, copper, aluminum, stainless steel, or even diecast zinc. I believe it is dead wrong to make jewelry out of cadmium and won't help you do it.

Regards,