Backgrounder - Proposed amendments to the Children's Jewellery Regulations

What are the proposed changes to the Children’s Jewellery Regulations?

Health Canada is proposing the introduction of a 130 mg/kg total cadmium limit under the Children’s Jewellery Regulations for children’s jewellery items small enough to be swallowed by a child. The Department is also proposing to reduce the current total lead limit for children’s jewellery from 600 mg/kg to 90 mg/kg. These proposals would better align lead limits for children’s jewellery with lead limits under the CCPSA for other product categories with a similar exposure risk. The strict lead limit is similar to the limits in place in the European Union and the United States.

Currently, there is no regulation under the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act (CCPSA) that limits cadmium content in children’s jewellery.

In 2010, following Health Canada market surveillance that indicated that some companies had begun using cadmium as an alternative to lead in children’s jewellery, Health Canada requested that industry stop making and selling children’s jewellery made with cadmium.  In 2011, the department proposed a guideline limit of 130 mg/kg total cadmium for those products.

Since that time, Health Canada’s Consumer Product Safety Program has regularly carried out marketplace surveys of children’s jewellery to test samples for lead and cadmium.  The Department has requested that companies voluntarily recall products exceeding the proposed guideline on the basis that they pose a danger to human health or safety.  This has led 29 recalls over the last 6 years, including 15 recalls of children’s jewellery due to elevated cadmium levels. In surveys completed in 2015, no products requiring a recall were identified.

The Department is proposing to amend the Children’s Jewellery Regulations to ensure that requirements for cadmium are clear and consolidated with other requirements for children’s jewellery.

As the proposal goes through the regulatory process, the Government of Canada will continue to take action against any identified items of children’s jewellery containing harmful levels of cadmium. 

Why isn’t Health Canada banning all lead and cadmium from children’s jewellery?

Metals are present naturally in the environment so exposure to lead cannot be completely eliminated. Risk assessments by Health Canada scientists have determined that a 90 mg/kg total lead and an 130 mg/kg total cadmium limit effectively stops the intentional addition of these metals to products during the manufacturing process and helps protect children against toxicity associated with exposure.

This lead limit is also similar to the current lead limit in the United States for children’s jewellery and other children’s products. Currently, the United States does not have federal regulatory limits for cadmium in children’s jewellery.

What about adult jewellery?

Health Canada takes a risk-based approach to consumer product safety regulations and priority is given to those products likely to pose a higher health and safety risk. The proposed regulations are for jewellery items meant to be used and worn by children under the age of 15 years, as it is less likely that adults would put jewellery into their mouths.

Health Canada recommends to parents and caregivers that young children not be allowed to wear or play with adult jewellery. The Department also recommends that parents and caregivers discourage children from putting things into their mouths unless they are intended to be mouthed (like food and pacifiers).

What are the next steps?

The consultation period for this proposal is from December 3, 2016, to February 15, 2017.  After the 75-day consultation period, Health Canada will review all comments received and determine the appropriate next steps in the regulatory process.