U.S. agrees to reduce jewel toxic content

US jewelry retailer Tween Brands Inc (TWB) has reached a settlement agreement that will effectively remove toxic cadmium from bracelets, necklaces and other jade jewelry, which is the first similar settlement agreement. The settlement agreement covers jewellery products sold in California, but given the size of the state's market, the agreement actually became Tween Brands' corporate policy throughout the United States. The agreement covers jewellery for children, adolescents and adults and is beyond the age range of girls under the age of 13. This age category has previously become the focus of consumer concern. In the past year, the problem of excessive cadmium content in jewellery has caused consumer anxiety.

In July last year, Tween Brands recalled about 137,000 pieces of jewellery produced in China because the cadmium content of these jewelry was too high, but the company did not disclose the exact data at that time. Although the test results from this recall activity have not been publicly released, the jewelry industry carried out five other recalls of cadmium-containing jewelry under the coordinated arrangement of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) last year. Some of these recalls indicate that Some jewelry contains more than 90% cadmium.

According to the settlement agreement, starting from 2012, if Tween Brands sells jewelry containing more than 0.03% cadmium, it will face fines. The settlement agreement still needs to be approved by a state judge to take effect, but this is almost never a problem in such cases.

The lawsuit against Tween Brands was filed by the Center for Environmental Health, an industry group in California that has been using the state's Proposition 65 regulations to force companies to reduce the amount of hazardous materials in consumer products. The Environmental Health Center stated that the organization has filed a lawsuit on cadmium content with 39 other retailers or jewelry suppliers in the past year and hopes to submit the settlement agreement to the State Attorney General of California last Friday. Will become a model for these lawsuits.

Representative lawyers of the Environmental Health Center are still negotiating with other companies. Caroline Cox, head of the organization's research, said: "Tween Brands is the pioneer of the settlement agreement in the cadmium content case. The company is right to do so." Environmental Health Center said that The organization purchased jewellery at a Tween Brands-owned shop in February 2010. The cadmium content of these jewellery products was 69%, which was the reason for the organization's lawsuit against Tween Brands.