Just a Heads-Up for those Crafters that sell the Creations
@creationsbyrobin (3071)
United States
March 16, 2008 10:49am CST
If you sell items to residents of California, you need to be sure of the lead content in your items. As of March 1 of this year, the state passed a Lead in Jewelry Act (they already had a law in place for children's jewelry, this is the law for adult jewelry)
All California suppliers have been forced to become compliant and anything they sell should be within the legal limit. Many quality suppliers have already begun to label their supplies with "Lead-Free" or "May contain lead" stickers on their items.
As of right now, it appears only California has a law in place, but there was talk on the Etsy.com forums that Minnesota may also follow with a similar law.
1 person likes this
4 responses
@carolbee (16230)
• United States
18 Mar 08
Thanks for the heads-up on jewelry. California has always been the first to start trends, fads and some laws. I think it's a good, safe idea.
I make and sell plastic canvas items. I'm safe since plastic and yarn don't have lead.
Thanks for the information,
carolbee
2 people like this
@creationsbyrobin (3071)
• United States
18 Mar 08
You're so welcome! It is a bit of a pain to go back and contact suppliers to see if they are selling items with lead in them (and so far, many suppliers have not responded, which makes me wonder if I'll purchase their items again)
But it is a very good law and one that should be enforced everywhere! It would prevent suppliers from sending items with large amounts of lead into the stores, where unsuspecting customers could be buying it and making items for children. I do believe that suppliers should be including tags on their supplies that say "Lead-Free" or "may contain lead" so buyers know what they are getting. Only in a perfect world, I guess!
Thanks for your comments!
1 person likes this
@creationsbyrobin (3071)
• United States
16 Mar 08
For anyone interested in more info on this law, here's a link that is much easier to understand (than the law itself)
http://www.dtsc.ca.gov/LeadInJewelry.cfm
Hope this helps everyone!
1 person likes this
@oscarbartoni (2581)
• United States
21 Mar 08
I have not and am not planning of selling to California residents but I am sure that my products do not contain lead, most are natural products. I do use glass beads which do not contain lead and I also use a few different metals for the ear clips and a few other metals in some of my crafts but almost all of the other items that I use are natural such as animal teeth feathers and a few other things like that.
1 person likes this
@creationsbyrobin (3071)
• United States
21 Mar 08
I have a couple questionable items made with silver plated bracelets or necklaces. I think my copper pieces are safe because copper is considered a Class 2 metal and copper plated is almost always nickle underneath (silver and gold don't mesh well with nickle)
Despite sending emails to the companies that sell these items, I have yet to receive a response from them. It forces me to discontinue selling to California residents, while await for their response. I will be emailing them again, to let them know they have cost me money (I had to cancel a sale 2 weeks ago) and I will not purchase their products any longer unless they let me know what the lead content is in their items.
Thank you so much for your response!!
@creationsbyrobin (3071)
• United States
16 Mar 08
You're welcome! I just posted a link in the response above yours with an easy to understand explanation of the law.
1 person likes this
