BILL NUMBER: AB 1681	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 19, 2005
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 4, 2005

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Pavley
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Chan and Goldberg)

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2005

   An act to add Article 10.2.2 (commencing with Section 25214.8.5)
to Chapter 6.5 of Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code, relating
to toxic substances.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1681, as amended, Pavley.  Lead-containing jewelry.
   (1) Existing hazardous waste control laws regulate the disposal of
discarded appliances, lead acid batteries, small household
batteries, recyclable latex paint, and household hazardous waste,
except as provided in the hazardous waste control laws and
regulations.  A violation of the hazardous control laws is a
crime and the Department of Toxic Substances Control is required to
enforce those laws. 
   This bill would prohibit, on and after  January 
 July  1, 2007,  until December 31, 2008,  a person
from advertising, selling, offering to sell, or distributing for
promotional purposes in this state, or importing into the state,
jewelry, as defined, that contains more than  200 
 500  parts per million total lead  and would, after
January 1, 2009, decrease the permitted level to 200 parts per
million total lead  . Because a violation of the bill's
provisions would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated
local program.
   (2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Article 10.2.2 (commencing with Section 25214.8.5) is
added to Chapter 6.5 of Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code, to
read:

      Article 10.2.2.  Lead-Containing Jewelry

   25214.8.5.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) Lead is neurotoxic. Acute lead toxicity can cause seizures,
coma, and even death. Chronic lead toxicity is associated with
attention deficit problems, learning disabilities, mental
retardation, and antisocial and delinquent behaviors. Even very low
dose exposures of lead have been linked to intellectual impairment.
   (b) Lead is particularly hazardous to children. Lead in young
children, even at minute levels, causes brain function impairment.
Current studies indicate that no level of lead exposure is safe for a
developing child.
   (c) Lead enters the body when a person breathes or swallows lead
objects, dust, fumes, or mist. Lead is absorbed into the bloodstream
and distributed throughout the body. The lead that is not excreted
right away is stored in soft tissue and bone. Eventually, 90 percent
or more of the lead body burden is accumulated in the bones and may
stay there for years.
   (d) Studies have demonstrated that when children ingest lead,
their bodies absorb between 40 to 50 percent of the lead.
   (e) When a pregnant woman has lead in her body, the lead easily
crosses the placenta and can harm the developing child.
   (f) High concentrations of lead have been consistently found in
jewelry, particularly inexpensive jewelry that is marketed to
children.
   (g) A March 2005 study by the University of North Carolina found
that of 312 jewelry items purchased from California retailers, 123
samples were found to contain more than 50 percent lead by weight,
and 36 of these 123 samples contained more than 75 percent lead.
Experiments simulating handling of these samples demonstrated that a
child under the age of seven years could be exposed to extremely
hazardous levels of lead when just briefly touching at least one of
the jewelry samples. The study further indicated that more intensive
handling or direct mouthing activity would result in even greater
lead exposures to children.
   (h) From September 2003 to July 2004, the Consumer Product Safety
Commission oversaw three recalls of nearly 150 million pieces of toy
jewelry because those jewelry pieces contained toxic levels of lead.
Then, again in December 2004, January 2005, and March 2005, the
commission recalled an additional 3 million pieces of lead-containing
jewelry.
   (i) These frequent recalls of lead products and the recent
research clearly show that lead in low-cost jewelry is a significant
threat to public health.
   25214.8.6.  (a) For purposes of this article, "jewelry" means (1)
an ornament worn by a person on the body, including, but not limited
to, a necklace, bracelet, anklet, earring, locket, pendant, charm
bracelet, ring, pinky ring, chain, broach, pin, lapel pin, headband,
watchband, or (2) any pendant, bead, chain, link, or other component
of such an ornament.
   (b) On and after  January 1, 2007   July 1,
2007, until December 31, 2008  , a person shall not advertise,
sell, offer to sell, distribute for promotional purposes in this
state, or import into the state, jewelry that contains more than
 200   500  parts per million total lead.

   (c) On and after January 1, 2009, a person shall not advertise,
sell, offer to sell, distribute for promotional purposes in this
state, or import into the state, jewelry that contains more than 200
parts per million total lead. 
  SEC. 2.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.