Stores across California have pulled lead-tainted children's jewelry from their shelves after state investigators found bracelets, rings and necklaces contaminated with as much as 600 times the legal limit of the poisonous element.
The discovery, coming after Mattel Inc. and other manufacturers of toys and novelty items recalled millions of lead-laced toys, bibs and lunchboxes made in China, rattled parents and retailers alike.
"I never thought it would go into jewelry," said Xochil Armenta, a Glassell Park mother of three who was shopping at Glendale Galleria on Wednesday with her 3-year-old daughter, Amanda. "I would never have thought, 'Does it have lead?' "
Hoping to get dangerous products off the market before they become Christmas stocking stuffers, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control ordered 11 retail outlets this week to remove more than a dozen types of jewelry for children, the agency said Wednesday.
All of the products had lead levels that outstripped the legal state limit of 600 parts per million.
"Lead in jewelry is a particular concern because children often place jewelry in their mouths," said Maureen Gorsen, director of the toxic substances agency.
State regulators said the jewelry action was just the first step in an enforcement campaign authorized by a new law, and added that there could be much more lead-tainted jewelry on store shelves.
Gorsen said her inspectors visited a cross-section of stores in California after the law took effect Sept. 1, buying 375 children's jewelry items.
About one-third of the items purchased had excessive levels of lead, the state agency said. It released a list of 15 lead-tainted items found at 11 stores in Los Angeles, Sacramento, Oakland, Glendale, San Francisco, Roseville and Chula Vista.
Shell Culp, a spokeswoman for the agency, said an agreement between state Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown and other companies whose products tested positive for excessive levels of lead prevented a full release of information about all stores that had been selling lead-tainted jewelry.
For the items that were disclosed, lead contents ranged from a low of 686 parts per million in a barrette-bracelet set at a Dollar Tree store in Rancho Cordova, a Sacramento suburb, to a high of 368,000 ppm in a necklace with pendant that was a prize in a gumball machine in a Church's Chicken eatery in Oakland.
