The attractive jewellery picked up from the roadside shops or the innocuous charm bracelet sold may be very hazardous. An NGO has tested some jewellery and found that the lead content is very high. The NGO made it clear that there was no risk if the jewellery was simply worn, but there could be severe consequence if lead was ingested in-case the jewellery was entered into the mouth.

The analysis used an example of 54 portion of imitation jewellery gathered from different markets. These were analyzed in a laboratory and found to have 'lead' about 12.68 parts per million (ppm) and 856,346.9ppm. India only has guideline on content of lead in paints and until now no regulation exists to control lead content in jewellery.

Countries like as USA, Canada and the European Union allow lead substance of 300ppm, 600ppm and 100ppm correspondingly in products for children. Imitation jewellery, especially for children, is regularly layered with paint which contains soaring levels of lead. Even unpainted jewellery is identified to contain lead to construct the metal more bendy. That is not a trouble, but people and kids habitually have a trend to put those tiny pieces in their mouth. This may create health problem.