The Finnish Consumer Agency and the Safety Technology Authority have checked to see whether people who are allergic to nickel are given correct information on nickel in white gold pendant chains. The results show that there are still gaps in sellers' information concerning nickel in products.
The Safety Technology Authority's inspectors purchased 28 white gold pendant chains from jewellery shops in different parts of Finland. In every shop the inspectors identified themselves and asked whether the white gold pen-dant chains they were buying contained nickel.
When the purchased pendant chains and their clasps were tested to determine their total nickel content, it turned out that correct information concerning nickel had been supplied in only seven cases. In ten cases the seller had said that the chain was palladium white gold or that it did not contain nickel, but in reality the products contained 3-8% nickel. Two chains were in fact palladium white gold and did not contain nickel, but their clasps did.
In five cases the seller said that chains "complied with the directive". This is not an adequate answer for people who are allergic to nickel, however. Jewellery can comply with the Nickel Directive and still contain nickel and cause an allergic reaction.
This is the third time white gold products have been tested in this way. White gold rings and earrings were tested in previous years. A positive development is that importers and retailers have started demanding certificates from suppliers concerning the nickel content of white gold products or have tested products themselves. Information does not reach retailers effectively, however. Some retailers do not know whether the chains they sell contain nickel or not.
The tests conducted by the Consumer Agency and the Safety Technology Authority to determine the nickel content of white gold jewellery indicate that although imported white gold products probably meet the requirements in the Nickel Directive, most of them still contain nickel. Even jewellery shops do not always provide correct information on the nickel content of products. People who are allergic to nickel should be very careful about buying white gold products and should treat related information quite critically.
The Safety Technology Authority is responsible for seeing that gold, silver and platinum articles in Finland comply with the Act on Articles of Precious Metals (additional information from TUKES website). The Consumer Agency is responsible for seeing that the nickel content of products complies with regulations. If precious metal articles comply with the Nickel Directive but contain nickel, they may not be described as nickel-free unless they contain less than 0.05% nickel by weight (additional information: www.kuluttajavirasto.fi). The seller is ultimately respon-sible for seeing that products are safe and meet statutory requirements and for supplying correct information on products.
Additional information:
Consumer Agency, Product Safety Engineer Karoliina Puolanne, tel. +358 9 7726 7574;
Safety Technology Authority, Senior Advisor Paula Ruotsalainen, tel. +358 9 6167 245