Research from the Ecology Center, a nonprofit environmental organization, discloses that more than half of low-cost metal adult and children’s jewelry contain large amounts of toxic chemicals, including lead, cadmium, nickel, chromium and chlorine (from polyvinyl chloride, or PVC). The report notes that these chemicals have been linked in animal and some human studies to acute allergies and long-term health impacts such as birth defects, impaired learning, liver toxicity and cancer. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, young children should not be given or allowed to play with cheap metal jewelry, especially when unsupervised.

Source: HealthyStuff.org