07/22/2026
Sellers on Amazon and TikTok have sold jewellery containing illegal amounts of a cancer-causing metal, Cadmium, an investigation by The Sunday Times has found.
Cadmium is, a toxic heavy metal that is carcinogenic. The legal limit for this element in the UK is 0.01 per cent in any piece of jewellery.
One Β£2.99 ring bought on Amazon that was advertised as 925 silver contained more than 9,000 times the maximum allowance and was estimated to be made of 92.3 per cent cadmium. To be called "925 silver", an item must comprise at least 92.5 per cent silver.
The Sunday Times bought jewellery on Amazon and TikTok and sent it for testing at the Birmingham Assay Office.
Charms in a bracelet advertised as 925 silver on TikTok, sold by a seller called Perform Pearls, contained almost 3,300 times the legal limit of the metal, were 33 per cent cadmium.
Exposure to this metal can affect people's liver, kidneys and lungs. Cadmium can also cause osteoporosis and liver damage. Christer Hogstrand, a professor of molecular ecotoxicology at King's College London said people should be concerned by any level of cadmium. He added: "It's one of the most potent metals to cause toxicity ... You should minimise any cadmium exposure. We're avoiding mercury at the moment aren't we? Mercury is really bad, cadmium is worse."
"Earrings are particularly dangerous as exposure is considered more risky when the metal is worn against damaged or pierced skin - With jewellery, the concern is if the item is mouthed or swallowed, particularly by a child, or is worn against damaged or pierced skin.
A set of charms advertised as "Tibetan Silver" and "999 silver" was bought from an Amazon seller called GuiSaLa, along with a pair of silver "metal alloy" earrings from a seller called TiantechKong. Both exceeded the legal limit of cadmium by three times and almost 5,000 times respectively."
And this is why I prefer to make my own jewellery.