Risk of lead in crystal

This is something that came into my attention recently.

"There are many different health effects associated with elevated blood lead levels. Young children under the age of six are especially vulnerable to lead's harmful health effects because their brains and central nervous system are still being formed. For them, even very low levels of exposure can result in reduced IQ, learning disabilities, attention deficit disorders, behavioral problems, stunted growth, impaired hearing, and kidney damage. At high levels of exposure, a child may become mentally retarded, fall into a coma, and even die from lead poisoning. Lead poisoning has also been associated with juvenile delinquency and criminal behavior.

In adults, lead can increase blood pressure and cause fertility problems, nerve
disorders, muscle and joint pain, irritability, and memory or concentration problems.
It takes a significantly greater level of exposure to lead for adults than it does for kids to sustain adverse health effects. Most adults who are lead poisoned get exposed to lead at work. Occupations related to house painting, welding, renovation and remodeling activities, smelters, firing ranges, the manufacture and disposal of car batteries, and the maintenance and repair of bridges and water towers, are particularly at risk for lead exposure. Workers in these occupations must also take care not to leave their work site with potentially contaminated clothing, tools, and facial hair, or with unwashed hands. Otherwise, they can spread the lead to their family vehicles and ultimately to other family members.

When a pregnant woman has an elevated blood lead level, that lead can easily be transferred to the fetus, as lead crosses the placenta. In fact, pregnancy itself can cause lead to be released from the bone, where lead is stored—often for decades—after it first enters the blood stream. (The same process can occur with the onset of menopause.) Once the lead is released from the mother's bones, it re-enters the blood stream and can end up in the fetus. In other words, if a woman had been exposed to enough lead as a child for some of the lead to have been stored in her bones, the mere fact of pregnancy can trigger the release of that lead and can cause the fetus to be exposed. In such cases, the baby is born with an elevated blood lead level.

Exposure to lead is estimated by measuring levels of lead in the blood (in micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood). The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has set a "level of concern" for children at 10 micrograms per deciliter. At this level, it is generally accepted that adverse health effects can begin to set in. However, recent research published in the New England Journal of Medicine provides new evidence that there could well be very harmful effects occurring at even lower levels of exposure, even as low as 5 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood. In other words, science is now telling us that there is in fact no level of lead exposure that can be considered safe."

The above information was sourced from http://www.nsc.org/library/facts/lead.htm .

So, exactly why am I blabbering about the risk of exposure to lead?

Well, simply because if you read my previous post on Swarovski crystal, you should realize by now that Swarovski crystal has no less than 32% lead. It is this 32% that makes the crystal optically pure to the eye which makes it the superior crystal. But at the same time, it is also the same 32% that had many worrying especially when California Proposition 65 law requires that Swarovski goods to be labeled as hazzardous. o_O

The CA Prop65 requires a warning that reads :
These beads contain small amounts of lead, a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects, and other reproductive harm if ingested. We recommend that you wash your hands after handling, and keep all items away from small children and infants.

Which means, the sale of Swarovski goods must come with the above warning.

Looking at that warning, who wouldn't think twice about buying Swarovski crystals?

Because of the aforementioned warning, the issue as to the risk of lead content in Swarovski crystals has been an on-going debate for a while some time back already but which only came to my attention recently.

But from what I manage to gather from forums, the issue could be said to be pretty much settled.

Lead is only harmful if CONSUMED. Basically, wearing jewellery containing lead IS SAFE.

So, UNLESS you are going to take your Swarovski crystal beads, grind them into fine powder, then dissolve that powder in liquid and drink it, then, there's a great probability that you could be harmed. But since that's rather far-fetched & unlikely to happen, there's really no genuine problem. Swarovski crystal beads expose you to no risk when worn, just as drinking champagne from a crystal champagne flute is not risky.

This is the reponse from Swarovski Crystal regarding this issue which I found on the internet.

"Regarding the content of Swarovski Crystal. Crystal is composed of quartz, minimum and potash. Lead Crystal is glass with 30% or more Lead-oxide. The special molecular structure of crystal glass immobilizes the lead in a way of blocking it. That's why Swarovski crystals are substantially below the maximum allowance standards of lead release required by the high standard of Council Directive 84/500 of the European
Community."

At this point, it may be worth the while to look into the legal aspect and background of Proposition 65 because California seems to be the only place that I know of which requires such a warning against a retailer of any kind (and wherever based) which maintain retail outlets in California in which lead crystal products are sold.

Proposition 65 was passed as a voter's initiative in November 1986. As it was written and adopted, the law is basically self-executing and the responsibility for compliance rests with the covered businesses.

To further explain Proposition 65 in a nutshell; based upon its knowledge of its business operations and potential chemical exposures, a business should review the Proposition 65 chemical list and determine which chemicals would even be likely candidates for exposure. What would determine whether a warning would need to be given is if individuals would receive exposures to the listed chemicals above a significant risk level from the anticipated use of the product.

The decision to provide a warning is made by the respective business. The responses to the exposure questions should be obtained from the business (the person responsible for providing the warning). So if Swarovski has told the retailers in California to warn, they have decided that their products could cause a risk of exceeding the allowable amount of lead under NORMAL use of the product.

Looking at it from a legal standpoint, my guess is that issuing this warning is just a pro-active liability limitation on the part of Swarovski.

Without this sort of "warning" Swarovski are leaving themselves wide open to litigation in the event some crackhead should decide to make a head-to-toe ensemble from their crystals and lives and breathes in the said outfit 24 hours a day for several years and ends up with lead poisoning as a result!!!

As stated earlier, unless you're grinding up the crystals and sprinkling them on your breakfast cereal, it is doubtful that "normal" jewellery usage and wear will give you any problems.

The general agreement seems to be that wearing or handling items with lead content is no more dangerous than using a microwave, drinking milk, or living near a road with lots of traffic. The real danger is in ingesting lead or inhaling lead particles - not something you're likely to do on a day-to-day basis.

Thing is, EVERYTHING has the potential to be dangerous if misused. Cotton balls, soft and innocuous and not generally considered to be a threat but try eating them - if you don't choke on them first, they're certainly not going to do your digestive tract any good.

So, what's the conclusion?

Bottom line is, Swarovski crystal is safe to wear. And that's what we really need to know. Otherwise, they would have gone out of business long time ago and you wouldn't see not only beaders and jewellery makers but also some very prominent fashion designers using them.

I understand this entry may be a bit 'heavy' but I hope not for this entry to arouse the worry in you. I had only meant and hope for these information that I discovered to be helpful and not harmful.

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Postscripts:
On a lighter note, Guide to Beadwork - THE ONLINE VERSION works like an e-book on beadwork. I have no idea how the real thing looks like but I think even this online version is good enough. This is one mostly on beadstitching. The content is divided into chapters starting with the basics techniques about beadstitching that you would need to know like how to start and finish a piece of work and even a section on how to add on new thread. The are also different chapters on the respective different type of stitches such as gourd stitch, brick stitch, chevron chain, daisy chain and so on. It does come with step by step pictorial instructions so you might want to check this out if you're one into beadstitching.
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Preciosa vs Swarovski

Don't we all love Swarovski crystals? The reason why Swarovski's crystal outshine all other similar material from any other manufacturer from any other country, lies in the contents of Swarovski crystal. It has no less than 32% lead, making the crystal optically pure to the eyes. Coupled with the patented precision cutting skill of Swarovski, stunning prisms are formed displaying radiant lights at all angles. That is why Swarovski's crystal 'sparkle' as much as they do.

There is this one thing that I read from the internet somewhere eons ago. Can't remember exactly where though. That even if an item such as a bracelet which is sold contains crystals made by Swarovski, describing that item as a "Swarovski bracelet" or a bracelet with Swarovski crystals" is misleading if the bracelet itself is not manufactured by Swarovski. Such a bracelet could only be properly described as "a bracelet with Austrian crystals.

It also seems that any wholesaler/reseller who may have purchased from Swarovski is only allowed, by Swarovski's copyright, to label it for resale as "Austrian crystal"

Swarovski Crystal has been called the most beautiful leaded crystal available. Attempts to duplicate it have failed due to the inability to produce accurately sized precision, faceted stones such as Swarovski's. Competitors' products are considered inferior to those who understand the value and beauty of Swarovski.

Swarovski's clarity and precision is directly related to the amount of lead they sink into their glass. More lead also means more weight per given piece. Therefore, Swarovski crystal does in fact weigh more. There is just something pristinely clear about Swarovski that would no doubt be obvious when placed side by side with a competitor's. Swarovski, simply wears and tears better, over time. Less scratching, less nicking than its competitor because it is a harder, heavier "glass".

Having said that, we now understand why Swarovski crystals cost so much, apart from the crazily wide array of colours and finishes to choose from. Competitors just cannot match that. I've had a hard time searching for the rarer colours simply because not many carry them. Well, that was before I know that Beading.com.my was Swarovski Crystallized's official partner here in Malaysia.

The colours and coatings that they carry is just unbelievable. I don't think competitors could even match up. The best they could is only in producing the more popular colours.

But Swarovski? They are the inventors and innovators. :)

Apart from the usual ones, there were a couple of the more special colours that I have used before. There was Cantaloupe and Alexandrite that changes colour according to light. Dorado and Comet Argent Light have a special coating to them, Dorado being a bronze copperish while CAL a silver one. Then, there were also Bermuda Blue, Crystal Tabac and Heliotrope which are all very special colours that I don't even know how to put down in words except that I think they are just pretty!

You know, I've heard of this saying once.

'There are no crystal in an unattractive colour'.

That could not be more true. :)

As a young boy Daniel often watched the work in his father's business. Later he completed his apprenticeship with his father, as well as at several other crystal-cutters. When, at the age of 21, he visited the "1. Elektrische Ausstellung" (First Electrical Exhibition) in Vienna, he had the idea of his life: the new techniques from Siemens and Edison inspired him to develop a machine for cutting crystal. He worked day and night at realizing his vision. Finally, nine years later (1892), he was ready to register a patent: a machine which, for the first time, made it possible to cut crystal to perfection. It was far faster and more precise than the manual work to date.

Now we understand why Swarovski crystal costs more. The higher price tag is not without a reason.

Nevertheless, I've read on the internet that Preciosa crystal is a good alternative to Swarovski crystals if you are looking for a more cost friendly crystal beads. I have not personally seen nor know of the price of Preciosa crystal before so I can't compare. A browse through their site feels like deja vu though. o_O

However, I did found something interesting from the internet about the link between the two. Whether if it's a fact or not, I do not know since there's no authority on this. That is why I'm saying that it's something interesting.

This is how the story goes.

Preciosa Crystals is older that Swarovski Crystals. Then, like now, Preciosa Crystals was located in Jablonek, Czechoslovakia. Daniel Swarovski worked for Preciosa (under its previous name) in the mid-1800's. He learned all there was to learn about making crystals, and had a nice little career for himself.

Then, as in many times and places throughout history, things got ugly for the Jews. Mr. Swarovski packed up his family and left Jablonek for Austria, and set up shop. Why on Earth he picked Austria, well, nobody knows.

The Swarovskis ran their crystal business, generation after generation, doing moderately well until WWII. How they have weathered WWII when almost all the other Austrian Jews were handed over, well, no information on that either. Some reckon that it's most likely because optical lenses were important for the war effort, and Swarovski made the best.

After WWII, however, Swarovski did incredibly well. Preciosa in Jablonek still made beads and crystals, but weren't able to put a lot of resources into research and development. The Soviet Union saw no compelling reason for investing in bead-making companies, though the optic portion of the company did well. Their beady customers were mostly from within, and they were largely forgotten in the West. Swarovski put a ton of money into R&D, expanded their product line, and became THE company to beat for lead crystal.

In 1989, the Soviet Union began to crumble, and by 1990, the Czech Republic was looking at itself to see which industries would be salable in the West, and provide hard currency.

Unsurprisingly, Preciosa became one of the newly privatized companies that is becoming well known in the West.

Now, that's something interesting we never know about.
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Postscripts:
Wendy from Diary of a Miniature Enthusiast run a very good article on how to distinguish between the genuine and fake Swarovski crystal beads. You may want to check them out here. Thing is, passing off an inferior item as someone else's more superior product is just downright WRONG. Such sellers are not only unethical but in violation of copyright and trademark laws. I think it's not as bad if they stated from the onset that they are replica at a fraction of the price of the genuine ones and it's then up to the customers whether if they still want to proceed with the sale, after considering their budget. But to mislead buyers into buying what it's not is just despicable.
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It is only when your heart is 'in it' .....

This is going to be a non jewellery making related post but still very related to this blog nonetheless.

If you had read my 'About me' section, you should know that I was a recovering brain aneurysm patient. Well, still is as a matter of fact. I've yet to gain fully to certain extent many of a normal person's bodily function, the most obvious one being my gait. And the question of when I'll gain back fully whatever I have lost, if they ever do come back at all still remains to be seen.

Yes. I am not normal.

Whoops! No.

I should rephrase that.

Worry not, I am very much normal. I merely don't move around like a normal person. Moderately impaired seems to be the more appropriate term, although it is already a step upwards the scale from severely impaired; a condition that I was previously in. So I guess that is an encouragement for me to keep on going?

Truth is, I was about to give up on my impaired gait about 2 months ago until I got an SMS from my physiotherapist. She wanted me to give the treatment another go after she came back from a seminar on balance disorder.

I've been going for physiotherapy as soon as I was discharged from the hospital back in 2005. The first year and two saw very drastic improvement, from me on a wheelchair to walking with a tripod. I started to go out again and teach in my cousin sister's kindergarten. It was the first step towards me going back to the society again, after living in seclusion for a year and a half.

However, the improvement on the following year just wasn't as encouraging anymore and to some extent, it even feels stagnant. No matter how hard I pushed myself with the exercises, I still can't walk and move steadily. I walk as though I just had 5 shots of Whiskey down my throat.

But all the while, I had jewellery making by my side to distract me when it gets a little too frustrating. It was something that I could still do well in and enjoy doing at the same time. Finishing a project that I started with was what makes me want to wake up to every morning.

I was nevertheless slightly de-motivated. I thought to myself that perhaps that's only so far I can come to. I should count my blessings already to have survived in such an ordeal and still be able to do what I enjoy doing. That is, of course, until the SMS.

I went back to the hospital gym and a new routine of exercises for balance training. She really didn't have to contact me again to go back to the hospital gym. After all, it was I who gave up going in the first place. But when someone is willing to make that extra effort to help you, you really should give yourself one good slap(and make it a hard one too) on the cheek if you're not even willing to help yourself.

I returned with a new attitude. As much as I'm not hoping for too much(I understand fully the severity of what I went through), I nevertheless try to stay positive. I still want to do what I was once able to do. This is how I'm going to look at it now. It might be a long journey, but hey, every journey will come to an end at one point. You just got to keep on walking.

I am truly grateful and thankful to have met my physiotherapist. But for her, I might not have still dare to hope.

Nurul is my physiotherapist's name. She and I share something in common. We both enjoy doing what we are both currently doing. She also started a blog on physiotherapy (a field which has yet to receive the recognition it deserves here in Malaysia) here. She mentioned about me too in one of her posts here. :)

It is also because of this ordeal that I found a new passion in jewellery making. Searching my own soul again to realize that there's nothing I love doing more than craft work and create beautiful things with my hands. If it wasn't because of what had happened, I think I'll be stuck in an office working from dusk to dawn and running from one court to another seeing only mostly white, black and navy blue as the days go by. Clearly something that I don't think I'll enjoy as much.

In Nurul's words, "it is only when your heart is 'in it' will one feel the ultimate pleasure."

And,

In my words, "doing it only because I'm loving it."

I hope everyone reading this is blessed with doing what they enjoy doing most. :)

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Where I shop for beads and findings

Well, mostly online. :)

I know I haven't update already for a while. Been a little busy with work and also obsessed with tweaking the layout of all my blogs to my satisfaction. I can get really obsessed with perfection sometimes. I know perfection do not exit among the mere mortals but still it never stopped me from striving for it. I think those sites are pretty much done already, well..for now at least. :P

So, I'll just do a short post today on where I do my bead shopping. As you all should know by now, I don't get out of the house much due to the limitation of my physical condition, which means I don't travel too much. The place where I stay now {i.e. my hometown) also hasn't got any bead shop. So, it would be difficult for me to continue doing beading if I depended on retail supply of beads.

I might as well take advantage of all the local online bead shop that are booming over the cyberspace like mushrooms. They also offer better prices compared to retail, I believe (I said I believe because I haven't done much retail bead shopping to actually make a comparison). The ability to buy my supply of materials online was also the reason which prompted me to make jewellery in the first place. After all, I did started it all from eBay.

Another important thing was for these bead shops to be based locally, for the most obvious reasons. Price quotation in Ringgit. There are many online bead shops which ships internationally but exchange rate and shipping fees might add up to the cost significantly. Furthermore, it takes a bit longer to arrive. The local ones only take one business day to arrive if you opt for local courier by PosLaju at RM6.00 which I think is a reasonable charge. I said that it is reasonable considering that a bead enthusiast are buying in a bigger quantities than those who are merely doing it for fun. Smaller quantities might want to opt for Registered Mail which may take from 3 to 5 business day. It takes a bit longer to arrive but the shipping charges are much lower around RM3.00 I believe. Certain bead shops offer both for their customer to choose from but some however only offered PosLaju.

Ease of making payment is also another thing I consider. These local online bead shops accepts payment through direct deposit or bank transfer and as you know with online shopping, the faster you pay, the faster goods are delivered. I think this method of payment would benefit those who don't own a credit card and would most probably also include students and my guess is that beading is now a hobby widely picked up even by students.

I don't own a credit card you see and neither am I fond of it. If I need to use a card to make payment, I'ld rather use a bankcard or debit card. I know that payment of certain stuffs like car installments and stuffs need to be made by credit card but that's another issue. I'm talking about lower value consumer purchases. ..... I'm digressing already....

Yes, as I was saying.....So, these are some of the bead shops that I've found so far. It has always been rather mind boggling for me searching for beads and findings because sometimes I can get rather particular in looking for the things I want.I know, I know... that may not be a very good practice because a true artist can work with whatever he has to create but then still.... a true artist is also very meticulous in their work. No? Self-contradicting...... o_O

Anyway, I've been rather satisfied(for now, :P) with the selection of beads and findings that these stores carry. So I thought I'll compile them into a mini directory of some sort for easy references for those who might be interested. I've added to the bottom of the left sidebar; The Work Room Directory; a mini Malaysia online bead shop directory. Mini because for one, it's unofficial. These are sites which I bookmarked in my browser for my own personal references and two, as you can see. The list is very short only. LOL

These are just some of the online bead shop that I stumbled upon while I was googling for the things that I was looking for, some of which I've bought from before and some not. So, if you are a Malaysian online bead shop owner who would like to have your shop listed here or you would like to share some of the online bead shops that you know that are not listed here, just gimme a holler at atelierworkroom@gmail.com or leave me a comment at the end of this post. No worries, there are no charges. ;)

Findingbeads4u.com.au is actually an Australian company whose warehouse is actually in Kuala Lumpur. Prices are quoted in AUD but they sell in greater quantity. I wouldn't exactly call them bulk because they also sell in bulk and their bulk is REALLY bulk. Their non-bulk could probably be considered as bulk if compared to how others are selling. So, even if prices are quoted in AUD, but due to the greater quantity, they are still give good price even after conversion. Just do the math. But still, I think this shop is more suitable for the more serious beaders due to the quantity that they sell in. If you do buy from them, shipping is only AUD$2 which after conversion comes up to around RM6 and item is send by PosLaju. Ok wat. I've bought from them a couple of times already.

One glitch though. Since they are an Australian company, payment is is either by direct deposit to their Australian bank account or PayPal. I've paid them using PayPal. Nevertheless, I'm quite certain Malaysian are no longer a stranger to PayPal. With so many trading in eBay, most would have a PayPal account already (I will not be talking about PayPal here. If you do not know what it is but would like to learn more, you can do so here).

The rest are Malaysian online bead shop, some of which even accepts international orders. So, do scroll down the page and have a look see.

Marinacraft.com was not found by me by the way but by another beady friend of mine who asked me if I knew of any shop which carries Czech glass beads. I told her that I don't know because the only one that I know is no longer in service. She did a google search and found Marinacraft.com and told me about it. So, that was how I got to know bout Marinacraft.

Oh, and one more thing. Some of these online stores are hosted by ebay.com.my or lelong.com.my. Two very popular local online auction market place. Therefore purchasing from these sites will require you to sign up with the host first. But then, that shouldn't be a problem as signing up is free!

Happy browsing, folks! :)

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Postscripts:
I recently found the Malaysian Eni Oken in de Cor's Handmades. I think her work is just as amazing as Eni's. I think both of them are very talented wire jewellery artist. Their work are very original and decidedly theirs. Whilst Eni's style of work is more varied, de Cor's focuses mainly on the Chinese knot. I myself don't really know much about Chinese knot but my guess is that it's one of those common symbols within the Chinese culture. I believe I've seen that knot before in some Chinese culture ornaments. She adapted the technique onto wire wrapping and come up with magnificent pieces of jewellery. The technique is the same but the results are astoundingly varied. Very brilliant work she has there. She also has some tutorials on sale on her site in PDF format. I've yet to try out any of her tutorials (time seems to be an issue for me here!) but will definitely do so in time to come and I'm looking forward to that day.
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