BBC Tests Find Illegal Cadmium Levels in 8 of 25 'Sterling Silver' Jewellery Items From Amazon, Temu and Others

Cheap jewellery sold online as "925" or sterling silver is turning out to be something else entirely.

A BBC Watchdog investigation for The One Show bought 25 items from Amazon, eBay, Temu, Etsy and OnBuy. The Sheffield Assay Office analysed all of them. Eight contained cadmium above the legal limit of 0.01%. Only two of the 25 could be classified as sterling silver.

What the lab found

Of the eight items over the cadmium limit, three came from Amazon, three from Temu, and one each from OnBuy and Etsy. None of the eBay items was among them.

Some pieces contained up to 10% cadmium. "[That] is absolutely massive, relative to the limits we're adhering to," said Sophie Langley, who led the analysis.

The items were cheap. They included a bracelet for £1.55 and earrings for £1.99.

Rob Chilcott, a retired professor of toxicology, told the BBC that cadmium is a carcinogen associated particularly with lung cancer. It poses a risk if inhaled or ingested. An earring falling into food is one example.

"If you put something containing cadmium in your mouth, or indeed if you swallow it, that is really bad news," he said.

A hallmark that meant nothing

Meranda, 34, bought a necklace advertised on Etsy as handmade sterling silver. After a few days of wearing it, she said, her neck "started getting really irritated."

The necklace carried a 925 hallmark. Genuine sterling silver must be at least 92.5% silver.

Preliminary testing found nickel in the necklace, a metal that can cause skin irritation and is strictly limited in jewellery by law. In one part of the chain the concentration reached 11%. Sterling silver does not typically contain nickel, though some cheaper items do.

"It was very shiny. It looked legit," Meranda said. "I did not think it wasn't sterling silver."

The marketplaces respond

Amazon, eBay, Temu and OnBuy told the BBC that misleading listings are prohibited and that they removed the jewellery Watchdog identified. Etsy did not respond.

That answer puts the burden after the fact. The items were on sale, and were bought, before anyone pulled them.

Temu's separate Texas settlement

Temu's product safety record is also the subject of a U.S. state enforcement action that is unrelated to the BBC tests.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Oct. 16 a settlement with Temu. His office had sued in February, alleging the company secretly harvested Texans' personal data. The settlement also addresses sales of products containing toxic substances.

Under its terms, Temu must:

• Store Texans' personal data on U.S.-owned and controlled servers in the United States and block access by Chinese entities.
• Conduct annual independent testing of products for dangerous chemicals and materials.
• Remove toxic products, terminate the sellers and their affiliated stores, notify Texas customers, and provide full refunds.
• Pay $3 million in civil penalties to Texas.

If Temu fails to comply with the data security provisions, it faces a penalty of $8 million for every year a violation occurs, Paxton's office said.

Paxton called it "a historic victory for data privacy, consumer protection, and Texans who deserve to know that the products they purchase are safe."

Temu described it differently. A spokesperson said the company "has come to an agreement to resolve this matter as we continue to focus on serving consumers and supporting businesses across Texas," and that the agreement "involves no admission of wrongdoing, is in the best interests of all involved."

The suit named Whaleco Inc., which does business as Temu, and its owner PDD Holdings Inc. Paxton's office alleged the app functions as a "Trojan horse" that bypasses security protocols and exposes data to the Chinese Communist Party. Those are allegations. The settlement does not include an admission.

Missouri's case is still open

Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway filed her own lawsuit against Temu, announced Oct. 13. She alleges the company engaged in "aggressive and misleading data collection practices."

"My advice to all Missourians is to delete this app," Hanaway said. "Temu lied to you, stole your data, packaged it up, and potentially delivered it to the CCP." Those claims are allegations in a pending suit. The Temu statement available on the Texas matter does not address Missouri's complaint.

What comes next

The jewellery problem is not confined to one platform, and not confined to a Chinese-owned one. Amazon, OnBuy and Etsy each had a failing item in the batch, and the tests were run on only 25 pieces.

Temu's annual independent product testing in Texas is the one enforcement mechanism now in place. Missouri's suit, which targets the company's data practices, remains unresolved. Etsy has not said how it will address the necklace Watchdog flagged.