What We Do

Test Your Jewelry

Many of us at the Center for Environmental Health are parents, and we know how overwhelming it can be to hear about toxic products for children. We strive to recommend simple, concrete steps that parents can take to protect their children.

Because it is not possible to tell by appearance, brand, name, or retailer whether a piece of metal jewelry contains lead, we also advise parents to avoid giving children under the age of six access to metal jewelry and fake pearls altogether. We cannot guarantee that any product is free of lead. Some examples of suspicious kinds of jewelry include:

- Dull looking metal
- Fake pearls with pearlescent coating
- Plastic or vinyl cords or bracelets

You can test your jewelry. The test is quick and simple and requires only a hand-held lead testing kit, a common product in most hardware stores. Two reliable and easy-to-use brands are PACE's Lead Alert (also available by calling 1-800-884-6073) and LeadCheck (also available online at www.leadcheck.com). For more details on how to test for lead, please click here.

If you think your jewelry tests positive, please call Center for Environmental Health at 510-594-9864. We can help you interpret your test results. We may also be able to use your jewelry as evidence in our ongoing work to get the lead out of children's products.

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1997-1998

Setting the Standard for Lead-Free Water Filters

We exposed lead poisoning risks from home water filters that were actually adding lead to "filtered" water. Center for Environmental Health's lawsuits forced the entire filtration industry to adopt lead-free materials. See what else we’ve accomplished in our first 10 years.