According to the Associated Press, a line of Miley Cyrus jewelry was removed from shelves at Wal-Mart stores when the accessories were found to have dangerously high levels of cadmium, a toxic metal that can cause cancer when ingested.
UPDATE: Wal-Mart issued the following statement on behalf of Cyrus and Max Azria: “In the absence of any U.S. cadmium standard, we voluntarily adopted the British Standard Safety of Toys — Part 3, the only standard in the world for cadmium in children’s products, and applied it to children’s jewelry. Wal-Mart was an industry leader in adopting this standard and applying it to children’s jewelry and several other product lines. We shared this new Wal-Mart standard for children’s jewelry with our suppliers, and mandate that they adhere to it and they must conduct tests to verify that they do. Children’s jewelry products manufactured after April 9, 2010 must meet this Wal-Mart standard to be sold in our stores. We also reviewed children’s jewelry manufactured before April 9 and found that most conformed to our new Wal-Mart standard. We voluntarily withdrew the few products that did not. As we have always done, if customers raise new concerns, we evaluate the products involved and take appropriate action.
The Miley Cyrus & Max Azria line is not for children. It is sold in our ladies apparel section and it was designed for and marketed to older audiences. However, it is possible that a few younger consumers may seek it out in stores. Miley Cyrus & Max Azria jewelry is not intended for children, but as part of our unwavering commitment to protecting the safety of children, we are removing all of the jewelry from sale while we investigate its compliance with our children’s jewelry standard.
Miley Cyrus, Max Azria and Wal-Mart stand together in the belief that the safety of our customers is absolutely a top priority.”
