Jewelry Safety at Little Bugs Boutique

Here at Little Bugs Boutique, we are committed to provided a safe product for you and your children. To insure the safety of your little ones, please never leave children unattended with any jewelry and always remove jewelry before naptime and bedtime. Our jewelry is not intended for those under 3 years of age. Jewelry purchased for children under the age of 3 are recommended for use as heirloom quality gifts.

Accidents can happen! Please note that our jewels do contain small parts that could present themselves as choking hazards. Again, we ask that your little divas (of any age) know the dangers and treat her gems with respect.

Cadmium Content:

We are aware of recent news stories reporting the high use of cadmium in mass-marketed, low cost, imported children's accessories. There is no current standard for cadmium content in children's accessories in the USA. Just about everything at LBB is handcrafted here in the USA and we have taken great care in selecting quality vendors that certify their products to be cadmium free. It is possible, that the handful of items noted as "silver-tone" may or may not contain cadmium (or lead or some other unidentified metal). We do however, offer plenty of other "sterling silver" options in these categories. Our most popular accessory, the Ball Chain Necklace, does not contain cadmium and has also been tested for CPSIA compliancy.

Lead Content Information:
In recent years, lead products and lead poisoning have become hot topics. For this reason, we do not use components or beads made from unknown metals. To ensure safety, we only use genuine sterling silver components and beads in our designs. By definition, sterling silver is 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper.

Our decision to use Swarovski crystals in our jewelry has been researched thoroughly. Yes, Swarovski crystal beads are known as "leaded crystal beads", because of their higher lead content, but below is Swarovski's official statement provide directly to us on the safeness of their beads:

"Recently, there has been an increased regulatory focus on potential human exposure to lead from various consumer products, including jewelry. In 2006, the California Attorney General settled a lawsuit brought in his state alleging exposure to lead from jewelry. The court approved settlement agreement as well as the later legislatively enacted Californian AB 1681 established limits for lead in metals and several other components, with stricter standards for jewelry intended for children 6 and younger. Significantly, in recognition of the limited risk of availability of lead from crystal, the settlement agreement standards as incorporated under California AB 1681 allows the continued use of crystal without limitation in jewelry not intended for children. For children 6 or younger, up to 1 gram of crystal may be used in such jewelry. Swarovski crystals also meet the ASTM F963-03 standard on lead availability for toys.

Crystal has unique properties. While made with lead, the crystal manufacturing process creates a matrix which greatly retards the mobility of lead. By contrast, lead in other materials such as unplated metal containing lead may be available for surface exposures. Swarovski believes that the use of their products poses no significant risk to human health.

Several states have passed or are proposing laws to ban materials containing lead in various consumer products including jewelry. Swarovski is working closely with industry trade groups, regulators, and legislators to develop enforceable standards with consistent lead limits and which take into account the low accessibility of lead from crystal.

Therefore you are in no danger in touching crystals. This is also the reason that there are no specific recommendations about touching or using crystal, however, we do not recommend that crystals are put in the mouth, swallowed, choked on or inhaled under any circumstances, or are used as children's toys due to the small parts hazard."

As you may know the new CPSIA legislation overrides the Cal Prop 65 law. Click Here to read more about how LBB is handling the CPSIA requirements.

Please refer back to this page frequently to keep informed of updates in government legislation and how it relates to hancrafted jewelry.