Consumer Alert: High Lead Levels in Kids' Jewelry

Dec. 5, 2006 — -- Today, the federal government is pushing to crack down on potentially dangerous lead in children's jewelry.

This puts federal regulators in tune with public health advocates who say current federal standards are too lax.

As any parent knows, little kids don't just wear jewelry, they also usually put it in their mouths. That's how lead can get into the bloodstream.

At low levels, it can cause learning and behavioral problems. At high levels, retardation and even death can occur.

Cheap children's jewelry can be loaded with lead.

Earlier this year, 4-year-old Jarnell Brown of Minneapolis, Minn., died of lead poisoning after swallowing a charm. The trinkets were later recalled.

That was one of 14 federal recalls of children's jewelry -- totaling more than 160 million pieces -- since 2004.

The problem is so serious, the Consumer Product Safety Commission wants to streamline federal regulations.

The commission's new proposal would ban all jewelry with a lead content above .06 percent.

"It will allow this agency to move faster," said the consumer commission's Julie Vallese. "It will really require that manufacturers take a good look at what they're producing before they even think about sending it in to the U.S. market."

Right now, if jewelry exceeds the federal limit, the consumer commission requires another test to see how quickly the metal gets into the bloodstream.

"There's no safe level of lead in a child's blood," said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, Baltimore's health commissioner.

"Good Morning America" bought kids' jewelry -- mostly cheap pieces made in Asia -- from half a dozen stores.

It's almost impossible to tell by looking at the jewelry whether there's lead in it, so "Good Morning America" had a lab analyze the pieces.

Seven of the 23 items we bought had lead levels that were considered too high.

One necklace from Wal-Mart was labeled "nickel-free," but it tested above the limit for lead.

So did a plastic ring from New York drugstore chain Duane Reade and a glitzy key chain we bought from a New Jersey children's gift store.