A new state law is changing the kind of jewelry you can buy in California. As of Saturday, it was illegal to sell jewelry for a body piercing that has any lead in it. It's also now illegal to sell adult plated metal jewelry that's more than ten percent lead, or non-plated metal jewelry that's more than one-and-a-half percent lead.
Gale Filter is with the California Department of Toxic Substance Control, which enforces the law. He says they're inspecting jewelry sold in stores across the state and will test it for lead.
Filter : Our big thing is to first identify the jewelry -- be it children’s or adult’s -- and then get it removed from the shelf. The second thing is to work with the stores in order to determine who the suppliers and the manufacturers are of that jewelry.
Last September, the law limited lead used in children's jewelry. Late last year, Filter says they conducted a similar inspection of children's jewelry. He says of 162 stores, 33 had products with lead amounts over the legal limit.
Filter says lead can be toxic -- and can cause health effects ranging from behavioral problems and learning disabilities to organ failure. He says after August of 2009, the amount of lead allowed in adult jewelry will go down to six percent.
