Following reports that some Chinese jewelry makers are using cadmium, a highly toxic metal, after being banned from using lead, the Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality (STAMEQ) has ordered an immediate investigation.
It has instructed the Department of Goods Quality Management and other concerned agencies to destroy jewelry that are found to contain cadmium or other toxic substances.
Dr. Le Van Cat, head of the Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology’s Institute of Chemistry, said cadmium is a heavy and very toxic metal that is less dangerous than only lead and mercury.
Extended exposure to it can cause lung and prostate cancers.
