Unfortunately, there are a lot of jewelry sellers who say their product is silver, but in reality, it is not. Cheap fake silver jewelry is sold in large quantities on the market. Even worse: Up to 90% of such silver may consist of toxic heavy metals that could affect the wearers health. 

Watch out for Fake and Toxic Silver

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Unfortunately, there are a lot of jewelry sellers who say their product is silver, but in reality, it is not. Even worse, many of the silver jewelry pieces may contain toxic heavy metals that could affect the wearers’ health. Learn here how to recognize fake and toxic silver and stay away from it.

Frequently you can come across sellers who offer jewelry as sterling silver that only has a thin silver cover. Such jewelry tends to deteriorate quickly. The worst abuses can be found in fashion jewelry: According to the Associated Press, a recent analysis “found that 31 adult fashion jewelry items purchased from retail stores had at least 40 percent cadmium, and the majority were more than 90 percent”.

Even when it comes to fine jewelry, supposedly produced with sterling silver, in many cases this is a hoax. On the internet, especially in online stores like eBay and Etsy, a lot of cheap silver jewelry is sold, mostly produced in China or India.

It is advisable to be careful with Chinese silver, which is marked «S925», which is generally nickel and copper with a silver coating.

In countries like India, the silver jewelry industry is an important cottage industry, meaning the biggest part of the silver jewelry production comes from thousands of small manufacturing operations that are often run out of a home by a single individual or a family. Therefore, jewelry exporters buy their products from many different sources which can neither be controlled nor standardized. Given the fact that the Indian business model is commonly based on cut-throat prices, artisan silversmiths will naturally try to lower their production costs as much as possible. One way to do this is to replace silver with cheaper but toxic heavy metals. Raw silver is mixed with 20-30% cadmium and is then used to make silver jewelry.

Inexpensive silver jewelry is sold, for example, in European and US outdoor markets and specialty stores for traditional crafts. Researchers in Switzerland carried out an analysis of such jewels: The composition of the material of 21 samples was analyzed: 12 samples contained a minimum of 20 percent cadmium (the highest value was 43.9 percent). Lower levels of nickel, copper, zinc, and lead were also found. Another scientific research in the Czech Republic found cadmium contents from 13 to 44.6% in all samples.

The problem with fake silver is not limited to jewelry from India or China. Likewise, the jewelers of the center of Lima in Peru, commonly produce and sell this type of silver.

Cadmium in jewelry

Cadmium is a bluish-white soft metal. Cadmium is generally not present in the environment as a pure metal. It is found primarily as part of zinc-containing minerals, but can also be found in lead and copper ores. Cadmium is used in fashion jewelry as a coating to increase the shine. It also adds weight and mass.

 Is Cadmium safe?

Cadmium is one of the most toxic metals commonly released due to mining activities. Cadmium is a heavy metal that is toxic to humans, animals, plants, and microorganisms.

What are the potential environmental impacts of Cadmium?

Cadmium is toxic to fish and other aquatic life. Cadmium bioaccumulates (builds up) in plants, fish, and other wildlife that live in water and on land. Cadmium also interferes with the normal endocrine function in fish and may affect fish behavior. In animals, cadmium exposure during pregnancy has caused negative effects on behavior and learning, as well as abnormal fetal metabolism, low fetal weight, and skeletal deformations.

Cadmium is a known carcinogen. Some studies of workers exposed to cadmium found higher levels of lung cancer. Cadmium also causes kidney, lung, and intestinal damage. Cadmium can pass from mothers to children through breastfeeding. There is some evidence that cadmium causes reproductive problems in humans including low birth weight and reduced sperm count.

When wearing jewelry, should I be worried about Cadmium?

A scientific study analyzed 60 items of precious and non-precious jewelry in the Indian retail market. The disturbing discovery: In many items of non-precious, metal imitation jewelry carcinogenic cadmium makes up 80% of the material, which poses a significant health hazard. 

The risks related to cadmium exposure through the skin (dermal exposure) should not be underestimated. A scientific study was able to demonstrate a penetration of up to 12.7% of the dose of cadmium applied to the human skin.

You will not have immediate health problems if your jewelry contains cadmium. However, Cadmium accumulates in our body during our whole lifetime and 30% of what is absorbed by our body stays stocked within our kidneys. In the long term, cheap jewelry is one of the sources of cadmium that accumulates over time in the human body. When it reaches the critical level its presence begins to cause disease.

Some scientists believe that damage to kidney tissue can lead to kidney disease, high blood pressure, and heart disease. Cadmium-related kidney damage leads to calcium deficiencies in the rest of the body, particularly the skeleton.

The question therefore is: would you knowingly use something potentially harmful to your long-term health?

Is cadmium in jewelry banned in Europe?

In the EU, under the REACH Regulation, there is a ban on its use in various plastic materials, paint/varnish, jewelry, as solder as well as a ban on surface treatment (cadmium plating) of equipment and machinery for a number of uses.

Nevertheless, studies showed that most if not all cheap jewelry sellers in Europe ignore this legislation. It is important that ethical jewelry shops start informing their clients and that customers choose quality silver jewelry to protect their health.

NICKEL in jewelry

Nickel allergy is a common cause of allergic contact dermatitis. Nickel allergy is often associated with earrings and other jewelry. Symptoms usually occur 12 to 48 hours after contact with nickel. You may notice itching, redness, rash, dry patches, and swelling of the skin. Sometimes blisters follow, which may break, leaving scars. If left untreated, your skin can become darker, leathery, and cracked. Most likely, the rash is only on the part of the skin that is in direct contact with the nickel. In severe cases, the rash can spread. Sweating can make it worse.

In the United States, there are no government standards or regulations for using the terms “nickel free” or “hypoallergenic.”

The unfortunate truth is that some “nickel-free” and “hypoallergenic” jewelry (even if made from stainless steel) may still contain nickel!

Some manufacturers define “nickel free” as free of nickel in the plating or overlay but utilize nickel alloys in the base metal to increase durability and reduce the cost of goods. When the plating or overlay wears, even microscopically, an allergic reaction to the nickel in the base metal can occur.

The European Union regulated the use of nickel in jewelry and other products that come into contact with the skin. Since 1 June 2009, it has been subsumed into the REACH Regulation, specifically item 27 of Annex XVII to that regulation. The regulation imposes limits on the amount of nickel that may be released from jewelry. These limits, known as migration limits, are:

• 0.2 μg/cm2/week for post assemblies which are inserted into pierced ears and other pierced parts of the human body;
• 0.5 μg/cm2/week for other products intended to come into direct and prolonged contact with the skin.

LEAD in jewelry

Lead is often been used in jewelry, to make the article heavier and brighten colors. Lead is a toxic metal that does not break down in the environment and accumulates in our bodies.

High levels of lead have been found in jewelry, especially inexpensive children’s jewelry. 

There is no safe level of lead, and it can cause damage to the brain, kidneys, and nervous system. In children, lead can also slow development or cause learning, behavior, and hearing problems. Some studies have found that lead can be absorbed through the skin. If you handle lead and then touch your eyes, nose, or mouth, you are at risk.

Lead can be deadly when used in jewelry. The USA medical journal “Pediatrics” documented in October 2024 the life-threatening lead poisoning in a 1-year-old who ingested a lead-containing metallic medallion from India. The study revealed the composition of the medallion to be: Lead: 15%, copper: 53%, nickel: 4.9%, arsenic: 2.2%, antimony: 1.2%, and silver: 0.13%. In other words, the medallion contained 550 times the allowable content of lead in children’s metallic jewelry sold in the United States.

India does not have any health or environmental standards for the use of lead in jewelry. According to the report released by the NGO ‘Toxic Links’, all 54 samples of children’s ornaments, collected for the study, contained lead. In some pieces, the lead concentration in the jewelry was 1,000 times higher than the permissible limit in the US.

Similar results have been found in Nepal with 53 % of jewelry containing lead levels higher than the ones allowed in the UK

Most of the jewelry subject to recent U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (U.S. CPSC) recalls was manufactured in China, although some recalled jewelry was manufactured in India and other foreign countries. The jewelry was discovered in warehouses in southern California. Some of it was imported from China and was packaged with labels claiming to be lead free.

Do not support unethical and abusive jewelry production

When you buy cheap and toxic silver or silver replacement jewelry you are not only harming yourself. You are also supporting a ruthless, unethical, and abusive industry that does not care to kill to make a profit.

In India, silver refiners use lead scraps to smelt old silver jewelry and other items to make new jewelry. This industry can lead to lead poisoning in workers.

The refining of silver from old silver ornaments, articles, and jeweler’s waste by smelting these with lead scraps for the fabrication of new jewelry is an important small-scale industry in India. Clinical investigations have shown that 31 out of 50 silver refiners were suffering from lead poisoning. Most of these workers have shown anemia, abdominal colic, blue lining of gum, and muscular wasting indicative of lead toxicity.

The use of toxic lead for jewelry is not even a secret. The following screenshot shows one of many sales offers of lead lingots for jewelry production on the public sales platform “India Mart”. 

How E-Waste becomes toxic jewelry

We all consume a lot of electronics, some of which get recycled thereafter. Recycling centers then sell the materials to places like China.

China, however, now has laws against electronic waste imports, so recycling companies sell their waste to part stores in their own countries as good pieces. 

Those then sell these to part companies in China and from there they will be sold to recycling companies.

These recycling companies collect all the metal including lead and cadmium and sell this to companies that fabricate cheap fashion and accessory jewelry. Then the jewelry and accessories are returned here to be sold! 

Why?

The reason is simple: A society of greed where making a buck justifies anything, in combination with an unaware consumer base that wants always more for less without questioning how that could possibly be achieved.

This turns into a vicious cycle in which sellers compete with each other with ever-lower prices. This is becoming even worse because, in recent years, gold, silver, and platinum are showing massive price increases.

Although cheaper, even the toxic replacements like zinc and lead have risen in price. In this situation, cadmium is cheaper than zinc, or lead, which has caused unscrupulous manufacturers to use it, despite knowing that all these replacement materials put the customer at risk.

The «925» hallmark: not a guarantee

In recent years more health-conscious and concerned customers are looking for ways to recognize fake silver to avoid the risk to their health. On the internet, a series of suggestions arose on how to identify real sterling silver, for example. The main advice is to look for the «925» hallmark on the jewelry, advice that comes with the notice that jewels that do not show this mark would not be sterling silver. 

Unfortunately, this advice is false. The 925 mark would only serve as a guarantee if there would be an independent entity or an authority that assigns this supposed quality seal.

Unfortunately, the opposite is the case: it is the same jeweler who marks the silver. That is why the mark is found on real sterling silver as well as on fake silver, without the use of the mark being controlled or audited by anyone independent.

Therefore, in reality, the presence of the «925» mark has no value whatsoever and its absence neither means that the product is fake silver. Many of our silver pieces are not marked, mostly because there is no good place on the jewelry to mark it without affecting the design. Nevertheless our jewelry is made with sterling silver or even with fine silver (pure silver)

What is Silver-Filled jewelry

To create silver-filled metal, a relatively thick layer of silver is mechanically bonded to an underlying base metal, usually brass. Instead of an alloy, this produces a layered metal that’s only silver on the outside.

The layered metal used for silver-filled jewelry pieces consists of between 5% and 10% silver, usually sterling-quality silver. This corresponds to the precious metal percentage composition of gold-filled jewelry, which is 5% to 10% gold alloy by weight.

While this might not seem like much, silver-filled is the best and thickest silver surface coating used in jewelry. If properly cared for, it can take many years for the outer layer to wear off and reveal the base metal underneath.

Silver-filled metal shouldn’t be confused with gold vermeil, which is made by electroplating a thin layer of gold alloy over sterling silver.

Common Silver-Filled Stamp Marks:

• Silver-Filled or SF 1/20 (meaning 1/20 parts, or 5% silver)
• Silver-Filled or SF 1/10 (meaning 1/10 parts, or 10% silver)

What is Silver Plated Jewelry

Silver-plated costume jewelry is produced by dipping base metal pieces into a liquid silver plating solution, which is then passed through with an electric current. This electroplating process bonds a microscopically thin outer layer of silver to the items.

Because the silver plating is so insubstantial, plated jewelry isn’t built to withstand regular wear. The silver layer quickly rubs off, allowing the exposed base metal to tarnish and cause further discoloration. It will only look like the real thing for the first few wears.

• Common Silver Plated Stamp Marks:
  Silverplate, Silver Plated, or SP
• Quadruple Plate (meaning 4x thin layers of silver)
• EP (Electroplated)
• EPNS (Electroplated Nickel Silver)

Not all metals that look silver, are silver. In fact, some non-precious metal alloys are commonly referred to as silver in the jewelry trade, even though they contain zero silver content.

This is why it helps to be a well-informed consumer, so you don’t overpay for a cheap metal alloy piece that unscrupulous vendors may encourage you to believe is made from real silver.

What is Tibetan Silver

Despite the name, “Tibetan silver” is neither silver nor from Tibet. The term refers to costume jewelry made from a tin or nickel alloy, or various other cheap silver-colored metals. These metal alloys are deliberately dull instead of shiny to give them a “vintage” silver appearance.

Many Tibetan jewelry pieces feature intricate detailing. Eastern scripts and patterns, spiritual symbols, and mythological animals are common motifs. Sometimes a black finish is applied to highlight these details, which also gives the metal an oxidized antique look.

Nickel, copper, tin, and zinc are the most common metals used to make Tibetan-style costume jewelry. However, toxic metals including lead, arsenic, and cadmium have also been found in some of these products. Jewelry containing harmful metals is usually produced in countries where consumer safety regulations aren’t strongly enforced.

What is Tribal Silver

Tibetan and tribal silver are largely interchangeable terms in the costume jewelry market. Both have no silver content, and both might not be free from lead or other dangerous metals.

Practically, the only difference between these two metals is in how they’re marketed. A piece of jewelry may be described as either, depending on whether the seller thinks it meets vague consumer expectations around how “tribal” or “Tibetan” jewelry should look.

For example, products with designs and motifs associated with African or Native American cultures are often referred to as tribal silver. Similarly, pieces that feature Eastern and Buddhist patterns and symbols are likely to be sold as Tibetan silver.

What is German Silver

German silver is also known as Nickel silver and Alpaca silver. Under these and several other names, the alloy contains 0% silver. Nickel silver alloys are typically formulated from a mixture of copper, zinc, and nickel.

Its high nickel content makes this metal alloy a no-go for some people. Approximately 17% of women and 3% of men are allergic to nickel.

The advantages of nickel silver are that it’s cheap, durable, and easy to shape into jewelry compared to other alloys which may be too brittle or too soft.

For these reasons, nickel silver is very commonly found in fashion and costume jewelry, as a finished product or with a thin plating of real silver on top.

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