Making Jewelry for Kids

[Former_Member]

So I'm considering making glass pearl & crystal necklaces designed for younger girls. Can somebody tell me what the CPSIA guidelines would be for this...or give me a link to the appropriate information? Thanks!

[FayeMaloneDesigns]

You can't use either glass pearls or crystals for children's jewelry. You can use real pearls.

[Former_Member]

As of March 23rd 2009 children's jewelry made in & shipped to the USA came under the full effect of the CPSIA. There is no stay of testing for products that the CPSC or the general public considers jewelry for primarily for children 12 and younger. All testing must be done by labs that have been pre-approved and certified to do CPSIA specific testing.
You can choose to use all exempt materials like precious metals that have either certifications (like a listing stating the items is Sterling Silver) or hallmarks (like 14KT on a earwire) as to their purity in conjunction with certain naturally occuring raw materials,like untreated wood and shells, as well as precious and semi-precious stone materials, but the jury is still ambiguous about if any enhanced or treated stones are allowed. Foe pieces that involve non-exempt materials you can choose to have either samples of your components tested or samples of the finished product tested. Almost all jewelry component suppliers are unwilling or unable to provide properly formated manufacturer supplied testing certificates. The testing information then needs to be tied in your files to a GCC that you keep on-hand for each specific item or batch produced.
Also you need to follow the proper labeling under the CPSIA. Since most jewelry is too small to have the permanantly attached tracking label it needs to be on the packaging. So you need to include all the required info on the box or bag that you ship the jewelry in.
Additionally needed is small parts testing if you choose to market the jewelry to or for the use of children under 7. If the product fails the testing you need to include in both your listing and again on the packaging of the item a warning that the piece is not for the use on or by children 3 and younger, but you can still market it as being used by or on a child 4 to 6 years old.

For the current full list of raw materials offically exempt from CPSIA lead testing please read http://www.cpsc.gov/businfo/frnotices/fr09/leaddeterminationsfinalrule-draft.pdf
An update on the stay of 3rd party & component testing
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10083.html
Tracking labels required on every product for children under 13
http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/sect103policy.pdf
A general overview from the CPSIA for Small Bussinesses
http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/smbus/cpsiasbguide.html
The CPSIA main pages
http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.html
A gateway page for summeries of the law by subsection
http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/legislation.html#summaries
Here's info about small parts warnings
Small Parts Regulations Summary http://www.cpsc.gov/BUSINFO/regsumsmallparts.pdf
Small Parts labeling
http://www.cpsc.gov/BUSINFO/label.pdf
and how they should appear in your listings / ads
http://www.cpsc.gov/LIBRARY/FOIA/FOIA08/brief/toygameads.pdf page 19 of the PDF has the abbreviations & page 20 of the PDF has the warning examples are in black-n-white but I believe they need to be in certain colors on the actual label for the physical product.

[Former_Member]

Wow! Thanks for all the information...this sounds like it could end up being ALOT more trouble than it's worth. However, I will look at the information you listed, jewelrydesignsbyME. Thank you so much for the references.

[Former_Member]

I will be stating that my jewelry is not intended for children 14 yrs and younger. That is on lots of components for sale at Michaels now.
just saw a snippet of tv show this a.m. disney and target (was a silver faith necklace) jewelry items were tested and contained high lead.
tv show suggested to not buy inexpensive jewelry for kids as it would probably contain lead.

I'd bet money that lots of jewelry sold for adults in Calif by chain stores contains lead, JMHO, the stuff is so cheap...

[Former_Member]

Another thing to worry about is individual states are now inacting laws concerning lead content of ALL TYPES of consumer products, not just lead in children's product. Most of these laws concern just having a warning label on a product if the lead content is over a specific amount determined by whatever test protocal the particular state deems as most scientific.

More on the California Lead in jewelry law, http://www.dtsc.ca.gov/HazardousWaste/Jewelry/upload/jewelry-fact-sheet-May-09.pdf
Another law that concerns lead levels in any type of product in effect in CA is Prop 65,
http://ag.ca.gov/prop65/regs.php & http://www.oehha.ca.gov/prop65.html

Another lead labeling law is the Illinois Lead Poisoning Prevention Act that went into effect Jan 1, 2010.
http://www.leadsafeillinois.org/cmsfiles/benchbook-3-illinois-laws-with-summary.pdf
Other than it's effective date, and what the lead level must be under (40PPM) I had very little time to try to figure out how this one will effect my products.

But just like the CA law you can legally refuse to ship items to customers in those 2 states if you are unable to come up with the proper certificates or warning labels that are require by CA or IL. Of course if you reside or ship from either of those states you're still required to have on file that information even if all of your sales are being shipped outside of the state.

Rings-N-Things has an excellent overview of most of the lead laws and a community forum where they are discussed.
http://www.rings-things.com/OTHER.HTML (Remember the chart that R-N-T gives on CA lead class level is strictly about their products in regards to the CA lead in jewelry law not prop 65 or any other lead law.)
http://www.rings-things.com/forum/index.php/board,1.0.html

Other states such as New York, Minnesota, and Massachusetts are all looking to enact similar laws to Prop 65 and the Illinois lead labeling laws.

[Former_Member]

Thanks for this post OP, and to the posters for the info.

[Former_Member]

Due to all these laws I've completely phased out all my children bangles!

[Former_Member]

Thank you so much for all the info. I was asked just a few days ago and had to decline the request for "flower girl" jewelry. However I was trying to figure out how I could reccommend another Etsy seller who understands and sells "flower girl" type jewelry. I only checked out four shops but none mentioned anything about CPSIA.
So I was not able to refer my customer to anyone on Etsy and I would like to in the future. Any suggestions?

[Former_Member]

I only use real pearls, semi-precious stones (on the exempt list) and sterling silver.

[Former_Member]

BridalBeads,
Part of this confusing law is that you can not advertise that a finished product as CPSIA approved. You can mention that an item is made of CPSIA exempt materials or that a product was constructed of materials that meet the CPSIA approved testing limits. But with all of the legal ambiguity many crafters are avoiding making such claims.

As marysrosegarden pointed out there are raw materials that are on the lead testing exempt list. So if you and the customer agree that the law must be followed a flower girl's jewelry could be made out of these materials. Keep in mind that the exempt materials are bridge to fine jewelry quality metals and stones so the flower girl's piece(s) could cost as much as the bride's jewelry. That would leave the tracking label and the small parts (&/or state mandated) warning labels to be put on the packaging for the jewelry & tied to a self-issued GCC that you keep on file for the piece(s).

[prettysensitive]

Very informative - thank you for sharing this.

[EarthenWire]

Thanks for the legal information. I was unaware that they had updated the regs this year. I also quit selling children's jewelry since there really is no way within my financial budget to test and prove the items in question are safe. Now I suffer the wrath of parents and grandparents alike at all my craft shows when they see the 'not for children' sign. They don't seem to care about the lead laws. I guess we can't please everyone.

[Former_Member]

Marking

[SweetPeonyBaby]

I'm new and just researching. I am setting up shop and have not started to sell yet because of CPSIA! I use Swavorski crystals, glass beads and faux pearls on hanging mobiles, but I haven't located CPSIA regs on products for children that are not worn and not really used as a toy but as a decorative item. I would risk people hanging my mobiles above cribs and breakage leading to chokable parts falling into the crib. I would risk babies putting these hanging items into their fists and pulling down, swallowing small parts. Not worth the liability and worse yet, potential death or harm to a baby. Yet I see many mobiles sold having acrylic or crystal parts. Does anyone have any info about this, disclaimers would still not release full liability in the event of death I believe, or am I wrong? Also, since the crystals won't be worn on skin, would the same regs for jewelry apply here? Any suggestions and thoughts about my product?

[Former_Member]

What about ages? At what age does CPSIA not get involved? 7? 8? 16?

[Former_Member]

Lots of information here! Thank-you. I didn't even realize there were regulations to be concerned about! I'm glad I found this post!

[Former_Member]

NishiStores,
The CPSIA effects all products made for or marketed to children under 13. Additionally it has a limited effect on all consumer products that contain paint and/or similar surface coatings regardless of the age of the end user.

[Former_Member]

Honestly, I'd love to make items for children, but the CPSIA makes it so difficult.
I'm seeing all this information, links, rules, etc and I cringe. It seems like too much effort to research it all and just much easier to avoid the situation entirely.
I work with real gemstones, goldfill, sterling and avoid many items like crystals for the most part.
I just don't have the time/energy to do all the research...My time is eaten up by trying to raise my views and sales.

[GardenofDaisies]

SweetPeonyBaby said:
"Does anyone have any info about this, disclaimers would still not release full liability in the event of death I believe, or am I wrong?"
If someone's child dies from a product you sell, you can bet that any "disclaimer" will be fought tooth and nail, especially if the item was designed to appeal to children or to decorate their space.

[Former_Member]

The odd thing about that statement is, there are a lot of items out there that 'appeal' to kids. I know when I was a kid, coins, buttons, pens and keys appealed to me. Plus there are some people out there who give their kids anything, regardless of age.

Do you mean things that are designed to appeal to kids as like, Care Bear or Dora jewelry?

It seems like no matter what, you get held liable though, information or not. I've heard a few stories. I'm not selling stuff geared towards kids, but I'm sure somewhere along the line, someone may buy something from me for their kid. If something happens to their kid because of my item (for example!), I get held liable even though my stuff isn't geared towards kids?

There are also people like the lady who sued McDonald's over the coffee she burnt herself on.

I don't need to say more on that particular case.