Better without…. I want it free of nickel and lead!

Nowadays, you can find fashion jewelry almost everywhere, in almost any high street retail, markets, cheap shops, expensive ones… Name it and probably you will find there a wide range of jewelry that fit any taste and any budget. However, there is an invisible danger hidden on many, if not most of those nice choices in front of you. 

It is important that we know and are aware about the latent risk for our health before we take the decision to buy and wear one of those pieces of jewelry.

Nickel is known as one of the most common sources of skin allergies. The reaction can range from simply itching or red rashes, to a more serious side effects such as watery blisters, pus oozing skin and so on. If you don’t react fast enough when the first symptoms appear by removing the nickel-containing article, it could develop into a more severe allergy that will require medical intervention.

On the other hand, lead is a toxic substance extremely noxious to people’s health. Lead poisoning happens after there has been a buildup in the body over months or years of exposure. Even small amounts of lead exposure can cause serious health issues, and lager doses of lead poisoning can be fatal. Especially harmful is for little children, who will be tempted to put articles with lead doses on them, in in the mouth and suck them. The effects on children can debilitate their development both mental and physical.

Several studies carried out in the fashion jewelry sector, reveal alarming levels of harmful chemicals in their composition. According to one study conducted by the Ecology Center, a Michigan-based non-profit organization that campaigns for a safe and healthy environment, despite strict regulations, many pieces of jewelry contain high levels of unsafe chemicals. Nickel, lead, cadmium, chromium, mercury and arsenic among other highly toxic chemicals, were detected in over half the 99 items taken from branches of Claire's, Forever 21 and H&M and other retailers.

As Dr Weidenhamer, Professor of Chemistry who took part in this study explained: 'Leads ends up in the jewelry because it's cheap, it's easy to melt, it makes nice heavy pieces of jewelry and in fact we've found in a lot of the pieces we've tested that are 95 per cent lead by weight, that the alloy composition is almost identical to what you'd find in lead acid car batteries.'

If you have already developed an allergy to some of your jewelry or if you simply don’t want to take the risk to wear any harmful piece of jewelry on you, then avoid to buy your jewelry in places you cannot trust and bet for brands that can certify products free of nickel and lead. 

In Bloombo we are specially sensitized with this type of issues and we are committed to the work safety of our artisans and the health of our customers.

We are proud to offer a collection that is nickel and lead free and that is safe to wear. When you buy and wear one of our products, you can be sure that you are wearing a piece that it is