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hubie [soylentnews.org] writes:

Cadmium and lead are both very toxic, but because they are relatively inexpensive and they are very useful in making vibrantly colored pigments, they are widely used in many products [chicagotribune.com]. Numerous laws exist that restrict their concentrations in products such as paints [wsj.com] and children's items [telegraph.co.uk]. Measurements made on costume jewelry in the US and Canada found items containing very large amounts of these metals [rsc.org]. In one case, an item labeled "lead free" was found to be 85% lead.

Recently an investigation by Washington state’s Department of Ecology tested 27 pieces of costume jewellery that came with young children’s dresses, including brooches, charms and necklaces, and found that five contained unsafe levels of cadmium or lead. One necklace was 98% cadmium – nearly 25,000 times the legal maximum of 40ppm set by Washington state. The state’s current law restricts levels of cadmium and lead in children’s products to levels of 40ppm and 90ppm, respectively. In addition, another piece contained lead at 50,100ppm.

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