With Agency Reports
Toxic levels of a cancer-causing heavy metal are lurking in jewellery sold on Amazon and TikTok Shop, a worrying investigation revealed on Monday, July 20 as reported by Daily Mail of UK.
Earrings, rings and other jewellery sold via the online marketplaces contain dangerous amounts of cadmium – a heavy metal that can affect the liver, kidneys and lungs.
It can also cause bone thinning, liver damage, infertility and cancer, experts have warned.
“It’s one of the most potent metals to cause toxicity. You should minimise any cadmium exposure,’ Professor Christer Hogstrand, a toxicologist at King’s College London, warned.
In the United Kingdom, the legal limit for this carcinogenic metal is 0.01 per cent in any piece of jewellery.
But according to an investigation also by The Sunday Times of UK, one ring sold on Amazon that was advertised as 925 silver contained more than 9,000 times the maximum limit.
It was estimated that the ring comprised over 92 per cent cadmium.
After sending a number of pieces for testing at the Birmingham Assay Office, which assesses the purity of precious metals including gold, silver and platinum, Perform Pearls – a seller on TikTok shop – was banned from the site.
Charms in one of their bracelets were found to contain almost 3,300 times the legal limit of the toxic metal, putting wearers at risk of serious toxicity.
As a result of the investigation, a recall was issued and the seller was banned from the site for breaching policies.
But according to the experts, earrings cause the most concern as exposure is considered more risky when the toxic metal comes into contact with pierced skin.
“With jewellery, the greater concern is not that every wearer will develop cadmium toxicity, but that a toxic metal is present,” dermatologist, Dr Ariel Haus, told The Sunday Times.
“The concern becomes greater if the item is mouthed or swallowed, particularly by a child, or is worn against damaged or pierced skin,” the dermatologist added.
Uses of the metal cadmium are declining and are now heavily restricted in Europe because of the health risks it poses.
