Product Safety
When you purchase a Beadalon and Artistic Wire product, you are buying the confidence of years of product development, compliance, and testing expertise. In addition to our in-house XRF chemical testing equipment, Beadalon actively works to reduce all potentially hazardous chemicals throughout our product line by sending out hundreds of product samples annually to be subjected to a variety of safety and material tests.
Currently, there are two major sets of standards addressing jewelry products in the United States:
1) CPSIA
2) California’s Proposition 65
Outside of the United States in the European Union (EU), there are two sets of standards addressing hazardous materials in products
1) RoHS
2) REACH
Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA)
This Act pertains to products designed or primarily intended for children 12 years of age or younger. Beadalon does not fall within the legislations guidelines as our products are intended for adults 13 years or older. All current Beadalon packaging reflects a statement that our products are “Intended for Adult Use Only” (13 and over). Since the CPSIA governs Children’s Jewelry, most of the beading/jewelry industry provides products that fall under California Prop 65 guidelines CPSIA (link).
California Proposition 65
Beadalon products that require Prop65 Labeling, of which there are very few, are correctly labeled on their respective packaging. If you receive a product that does not have any Prop65 labeling, this means it is exempt from such warnings based on the following criteria.
Section 1; Stainless Steel, Nickel-Titanium Wire
Wire and Cable Specialties, Inc. (parent company of Beadalon and Artistic Wire) does not label products made from these alloys (i.e. Beadalon 7, 19 and 49 Strand, Jewelry Cable, Remembrance Memory Wire, and T316L Wire Wrapping Wire) except for one potential use case listed in section 2 (Binding Wire).
Wire and Cable Specialties, Inc. primarily relies on two well-known and documented standards published on official State of California Proposition 65 websites. You can click on the “Amended Consent Judgement” link below to view the full document.
Amended Consent Judgement (link)
In this agreement filed by the AG of California related directly to the Jewelry Industries, it was firmly established that Stainless Steel is exempted from Proposition 65 labeling. 3.2.1.1. In addition, the chemical of concern in these alloys, Nickel, has be exempted from the regulations by route of ingestion (and to mouth) which would be the only route of exposure in the aforementioned ways.
California Code of Regulations, Title 27 (link)
Title 27, section 25707(b )( 4) of the California Code of Regulations provides that listed chemicals pose no significant risk by the route of ingestion: (1) Asbestos, (2) Beryllium and beryllium compounds, (3) Cadmium and cadmium compounds, (4) Nickel and nickel compounds. In addition, in the aforementioned industries/uses, Wire and Cable Specialties, Inc. notes that any chromium present would be in metallic form not hexavalent form.
Section 2; Jewelry Binding Wire
In extreme instances, general purpose wire such as jewelry Binding Wire could be heated/welded to a point by a user that the product off-gasses fumes. For this reason, the Company labels these products as follows:
WARNING: (If this wire is heated to the point of producing fumes and/or vapors) This product can expose you to chemicals including Nickel and Hexavalent Chromium which is known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. For more information, go to: www.P65Warnings.ca.gov
Statement of Compliance
RoHS
RoHS stands for Restriction of Hazardous Substances, and is a standard that pertains mainly to the electronics industry. The original RoHS, also known as Directive 2002/95/EC, originated in the European Union in 2002 and restricts the use of six hazardous materials found in electrical and electronic products. All applicable products in the EU market since July 1, 2006 must pass RoHS compliance. Beadalon and Artistic Wire products are not intended to be used in electronics. We do not market to or operate business in the electronics industry, but we often get asked if our wires are RoHS compliant.
Please be advised that all stainless steel (T302, T304, T316, T316L), Monel, Inconel, Copper, copper-based alloys, and Nickel-Titanium wires (coated and uncoated) offered for sale by Wire and Cable Specialties, Inc. are RoHS and REACH compliant, including but not limited to: Beadalon 7, 19, and 49 Strand, German Style Wire, Artistic Wire, Binding Wire, Jewelry Cable, ColourCraft, Remembrance Memory Wire, and T316L Wire Wrapping Wire.
Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) and Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH).
RoHS - Limits (2015 Standard)
Lead 0.1%
Mercury 0.1%
Cadmium Hexavalent Chromium (1) 0.1%
Polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) 0.1%
Polybrominated diphenyls ethers (PBDE) 0.1%
Bis(2-Ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) 0.1%
Benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP) 0.1%
Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) 0.1%
Diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP) 0.1%
(1) The Chromium in stainless steel is metallic (zero-valent) and therefore is not subject to the threshold limit if it is not exposed to heat or other processes that would cause vaporization/ fumes.
REACH
REACH (EC 1907/2006) aims to improve the protection of human health and the environment through the better and earlier identification of the intrinsic properties of chemical substances. Wire and Cable Specialties, Inc. does not operate any manufacturing operations in the EU and does not act as an importer into the EU. In addition, our products do not contain substances of very high concern. (SVHC). The full list can be found on the European Chemicals Agency website.
For a product to be compliant with the REACH standard it must meet specified standards for the following chemicals. The chemicals must likely to be found in Beading/Jewelry articles are indicated below. The full list of all chemicals is also listed (click links for detailed information):
All Beadalon/ Artistic Wire "WIRE" products comply with REACH and RoHS. The remainder of Beadalon/ Artistic Wire products comply or do not comply at the product level. The main reason for non-compliance is the use of a nickel strike in the plating process. In most cases, the process has been modified to be "Nickel Compliant" but some products have not been modified as of this writing. A full list of all products and compliance status is available for review. Please contact your sales representative or customer service.
REACH [UPDATE]
The EU General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) requires that all consumer products entering the EU market meet certain safety standards (EU REACH), and it establishes specific obligations for businesses to ensure it.
GPSR requires that companies that reside outside of the EU, that import and distribute products within the EU, appoint an “EU Responsible Person”. This role must be fulfilled by an EU Authorized Representative, who ensures product conformity and acts as a liaison between the company and EU authorities. The GPSR mandates this requirement to guarantee that all consumer products meet EU safety standards. Beadalon has appointed “TerrainQ Solutions UG” as our EU Responsible Person.
Effective December 13, 2024, Beadalon is monitoring all line items on orders and invoices to ensure that all products shipped to the EU are EU REACH compliant. Non-compliant product will be removed from orders to prevent shipping. To manage compliance, all products will be identified on orders, invoices, price lists, and online product listings as EU REACH compliant Y or N. Only compliant products (Y) will be shipped to the EU. For now, Beadalon is labeling all inner packages with “TerrainQ Solutions UG” contact details, per below. We can provide additional “TerrainQ Solutions UG” labels as requested. In time, this information will be included on the individual product packaging.
The “EU Responsible Person” for Beadalon products is:
