Testing finds toxic chemical cadmium in online jewellery sales

An investigation by BBC Watchdog has found that jewellery items bought from major online shopping sites contained illegal levels of cadmium, a toxic chemical that can cause cancer. Experts examined 25 items purchased from Amazon, Etsy, Temu, eBay, and OnBuy for BBC Watchdog on The One Show. Laboratory testing at the Sheffield Assay Office revealed that eight of the 25 items contained illegal levels of cadmium. Furthermore, only two of the tested items could be classified as sterling silver, despite being sold as such. [1][2]

BBC News reported that a customer named Meranda suffered skin irritation after purchasing a necklace sold as sterling silver. She noted that the colour of the jewellery changed after she took it off. In response to the findings, Amazon, eBay, Temu, and OnBuy stated that misleading product listings are prohibited on their platforms. All four platforms confirmed they have removed the specific jewellery identified by the investigation. Etsy did not respond to requests for comment. [1]

Amazon is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos as an online book marketplace. Temu is a Chinese-owned online marketplace operated by PDD Holdings, which was founded by Chen Lei, Colin Huang, and Zhao Jiazhen. Temu offers heavily discounted consumer goods that are mostly shipped directly from China to consumers. [3][5]

The findings follow earlier reports regarding toxic chemicals in retail products. As FTMQ News reported earlier, Trading Standards officers across the United Kingdom recently seized counterfeit cosmetics and perfumes that contained dangerous levels of lead, mercury, and methanol. [7]