Toxic chemicals found in jewellery sold as sterling silver online
Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 3 Nov, 17:00 · Archive
A BBC investigation found that jewellery advertised as sterling silver on Amazon, eBay, Temu, Etsy and OnBuy contained toxic chemicals including cadmium and nickel.
A BBC Watchdog investigation examined 25 pieces of jewellery advertised as sterling silver on Amazon, eBay, Temu, Etsy and OnBuy. Laboratory analysis by the Sheffield Assay Office found eight items contained illegal levels of cadmium, a chemical that can cause cancer. Only two items could be classified as genuine sterling silver. Some items cost as little as £1.55.
Meranda, 34, purchased a necklace from Etsy advertised as handmade sterling silver. After wearing it for a few days, her neck became irritated. Testing revealed her necklace contained only 8.9% silver, far below the 92.5% minimum for sterling silver, and high levels of nickel. One section of the chain contained 11% nickel, which can cause skin irritation and is subject to strict legal limits in jewellery.
Of the 25 items examined, eight contained cadmium levels exceeding the legal limit of 0.01%, with some containing up to 10%. Amazon, eBay, Temu and OnBuy said they prohibited misleading listings and had removed the items identified by Watchdog. Etsy did not respond.
How it is being reported
- ‘Sterling silver’ jewellery sold on popular fashion websites contains toxic chemicalsThe jewellery (not pictured) contained dangerous chemicals (Picture: Getty Images) Jewellery advertised as sterling silver on popular online marketplaces has been found to contain toxic chemicals. A BBC Watchdog investigation by experts on The One Show examined 25 pieces of jewellery bought from a…Metro · 3 Nov, 16:44
- Jewellery sold as sterling silver on Amazon and Temu found to contain toxic chemicalsAn investigation by Watchdog analysed 25 items bought from Amazon, Etsy, Temu, eBay and OnBuy.BBC News · 3 Nov, 01:49
In this story: BBC Watchdog · Amazon · eBay · Temu · Etsy · OnBuy · Sheffield Assay Office · Meranda
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