Lead restricted in Jewellery

By publication of the regulation 836/2012 on September 18, a restriction of lead in Jewellery was added to the Annex XVII of the REACH regulation.
From October 9, 2013, lead and its compounds is not allowed to be present in in any individual part of jewellery articles that are placed on the market if the concentration of lead in such a part is equal to or greater than 0,005 % by weight.
The restriction does not apply to “old” jewellery that has been produced before December 10, 1961. Exemptions are granted for crystal glass, internal components in watch timepieces that are inaccessible to consumers and non-synthetic or reconstructed precious and semiprecious stones that contain lead naturally and enamels.

The restriction is based on the dossier according to Annex XV that was submitted by France in April 2010. It showed that repeated exposition of lead can result in severe and irreversible neurobehavioral and neurodevelopmental effects.

In addition to the restriction of Lead, the Annex XVII had recently changes for mercury, phenylmercury compounds and cadmium.

REACH is a steadily moving legislation.