California Proposes to Strengthen its Jewelry Law

SAFEGUARDS | Consumer Products NO. 080/19

In 2006, California enacted the Lead-Containing Jewelry Law (AB 1681, 2006) to restrict lead in jewelry, a landmark piece of legislation derived from a Proposition 65 (Prop 65) consent judgment involving several major retailers for failing to provide a Prop 65 warning under this unique right-to-know law.

The Lead-Containing Jewelry Law codified the lead standards and methods from the judgment, including a specific set of materials for body piercing jewelry and the use of three categories of materials (Classes 1, 2 and 3) in the manufacture of non-body piercing jewelry products (‘Chilldren’s Jewelry’ and ‘All Other Jewelry’)

Since its enactment, the Lead-Containing Jewelry Law has been amended on several occasions. These included, among other things, the following:

• Expanding the scope of jewelry to include certain watch-related products, and attachments to shoes or clothing that can be removed and may be used as ornaments, and tie clips
• Requiring manufacturers to certify their products are compliant with the law
• Restriction of cadmium content in children’s jewelry
• Renaming the law to ‘Metal-Containing Jewelry Law’

In February 2019, California introduced the SB 647 bill to revise its Metal-Containing Jewelry law. The proposal is now set for a third reading in the Senate and contains important changes, including:

• Adopting federal standards for lead content in children’s jewelry
• New definition of age limit for children’s jewelry to be similar (but not identical) to the Canadian Children’s Jewelry Regulations (SOR/2018-82)
• Establishing soluble cadmium for surface coatings on children’s jewelry
• Strengthening the lead content limit for certain materials to align with those under entry 63 to Annex XVII of Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) in the European Union 

Interestingly, the three categories of materials, Classes 1, 2 and 3, have been deleted and the specifications for body piercing jewelry remains unchanged. 

It is important to note that the language may change during its passage in the legislature.

Highlights of the proposal as amended (version April 11, 2019) are summarized in Table 1.

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