HAMLEYS, Britain’s biggest toy store, and the high-street fashion chain Monsoon have been selling children’s jewellery imported from China containing levels of lead that can potentially cause brain damage and even kill.

Of 24 items of children’s jewellery bought in London and Birmingham, eight tested positive for high levels of lead. Six items had one or more components with more than 80% lead, compared with a recommended international safety limit of 0.06%. Among the items that had high levels of the metal were two from Hamleys in Regent Street, central London, including a £4.99 bracelet with heart shapes containing more than 93% lead, and two from Monsoon Accessorize, including a £4 pink skull and crossbones that contained more than 58% lead.

Paul Currie, trading director at Hamleys, yesterday announced an immediate investigation and the withdrawal from sale of the two products that tested positive for lead. “High levels of lead in children’s jewellery are totally unacceptable because this is a product that comes into contact with children,” he said.

Chinese manufacturers are suspected of recycling lead from discarded computers for use in children’s jewellery. Millions of children’s fashion trinkets containing high levels of the metal have already been recalled worldwide. Chewing or swallowing jewellery with high levels of lead can cause neurological damage in children or in rare cases kill.

The warning over children’s toxic jewellery comes after the toy giant Mattel last week recalled nearly 2m Chinese-made toys in the UK amid fears over lead levels in paint, and loose magnets. It was the latest in a series of alerts that has largely been driven by American regulatory authorities, including warnings over 9m items of children’s jewellery.

Senior figures in the jewellery industry say one of the reasons for the use of lead in children’s trinkets in the UK is there are no specific regulations on the levels permitted. Levels are strictly controlled in toys and even a watch should not contain more than 0.1% lead.

Tests over the past four weeks suggest the sale of children’s jewellery containing lead in the UK is widespread. Other items that had more than 80% lead included the clasp of a £2 pink decorative pendant also bought from Monsoon Accessorize and made in China; a £2.99 necklace and bear pendant bought in Camden market, London; and a £2 necklace and cross bought at St Martin’s market in Birmingham.

Lead castings in jewellery are typically plated. This significantly reduces the risk of the metal being absorbed into the bloodstream, unless the product is chipped, chewed or swallowed.

Dippal Manchanda, technical director of the Birmingham Assay Office, the laboratory that conducted the tests, said: “The findings from the samples submitted are worrying. Although there is no intention for the components to be sucked or chewed, [they could] cause major harm if a child were to put them in its mouth.”

Monsoon Accessorize said it regularly conducted safety checks on its jewellery and had had no complaints from customers about lead levels.

Results of tests on eight items of jewellery found to contain high levels of lead

Batch 1: Items bought from jewellery stalls in London and Birmingham

Key

Item 2: Necklace and heart bought from jewellery stand in Oxford Street, London

Item 3: Necklace with bear pendant bought from Camden market, London

Item 5: Z-shaped pendant bought from stall in Piccadilly Circus, London

Item 6: Cross and necklace bought from St Martin's market, Birmingham

Batch 2: Items bought from Hamleys, London, and Monsoon Accessorize

Key

Item A5: Pink pendant bought from Monsoon Accessorize

Item A2: Skull and crossbones bought from Monsoon Accessorize

Item H3: Bracelet bought in Hamleys

Item H8: P-shaped pendant bought in Hamleys

Additional reporting: Charlotte Beauchamp

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