High levels of toxic heavy metals were found in several necklaces sold as accessories to girls’ dresses. Cadmium and lead were found in five pieces of jewelry tested by the Washington Department of Ecology (DOE).

Under Washington’s Children’s Safe Products Act, kids’ products cannot contain more than 40 parts per million of cadmium. Four of the necklaces deemed unsafe contain up to 984,000 parts per million of cadmium, meaning they were made up of up to 98 percent cadmium. The DOE has notified the manufacturers of the violations and told them corrective action may be necessary or the companies could be subject to penalties.

The fifth unsafe necklace contained 5 percent lead, which is higher than is allowed federally. The DOE referred its test results for this accessory to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

“Cadmium and lead are two chemicals of major public health concern and we support efforts to reduce exposure to kids in Washington,” Lauren Jenks, director of the DOE’s Office of Environmental Public Health Sciences, said. “The chemicals impact their developing brains and bodies and they are at greater risk for exposure because they’re more likely to put items like jewelry in their mouths.”

Cadmium and lead both can accumulate in bone and soft tissues in the body and cause serious health effects. Cadmium can lead to cardiovascular, skeletal and kidney damage. Lead can affect child brain development and damage cardiovascular, reproductive and immune systems.

Both are considered toxic at very low levels.

“There is simply no reason to have high levels of toxic metals like cadmium and lead in children’s products,” Darin Rice, the DOE’s hazardous waste and toxics reduction program manager, said. “We tested a wide range of jewelry and most of it was within acceptable levels. A few manufacturers, however, are not following the law and are putting children at risk.”

The DOE tested 27 pieces of jewelry packaged with clothing as well as 132 items of children’s jewelry sold separately. None of the jewelry sold separately had concerning levels of heavy metals, and 22 of those sold with clothing were deemed safe.

Ecology officials bought these products in the store or online from several major retailers. These products may be found at more than one retailer. Several of these products can still be found in stores or online.