UPDATE: Advocacy group finds lead in kids' jewelry sold in MN ...

UPDATE: Target replied this morning that the jewelry items tested by the environmental advocates are adult items. Spokesman Stacia Smith: "All jewelry sold in the children's department meets all federal product safety requirements. The claims in the Healthystuff.org study refer to adult jewelry. In addition, Target requires vendors to label all crystal jewelry, which may contain lead, as 'not intended for children age 14 and under'. I have asked for clarification from Target whether these specific adult jewelry items already contain that warning due to their lead content. Stay tuned ...

Children's jewelry items purchased in Minnesota from retailers Target, Justice and Claires contained excessive levels of lead, the environmental advocacy groups Healthy Legacy and HealthyStuff.org reported Tuesday.

The organizations purchased and tested 11 children's jewelry items in Minnesota, and 99 items in the U.S. overall; 57 percent of the products contained excessive levels of lead, cadmium or other harmful chemicals, their report stated.

"There is no excuse for jewelry, especially children's jewelry, to be made with some of the most well studied and dangerous substances on the planet," said Jeff Gearhart, Research Director at the Ecology Center in Michigan and founder of HealthyStuff.org. "We urge manufacturers to start replacing these chemicals with non-toxic substances immediately."

One product with a high lead concentration was a silver tiara from a Claires in Minnesota:

Another was a cupcake pendant from a local Justice clothing store:

The advocacy groups tested seven jewelry items from Target stores in Minnesota and Michigan. Five of them contained "high" and potentially toxic levels of lead or other chemicals, the report stated. A nickel-free heart earring set, purchased at a Target in Minnesota, was one of those products:

A Healthy Legacy spokesperson noted that the lead in the Target items was found in the decorative crystals of the jewelry. That isn't as concerning as the lead found in the metal chains and enamel of the other products, the spokesperson explained, because lead doesn't leach as readily from the crystals.

The issue of lead jewelry was a hot topic in Minnesota in 2006, when a four-year-old boy died after he swallowed a toxic charm that was given away with Reebok shoes. The Minnesota legislature subsequently banned lead from children's jewelry products targeted to children six and under. Some of the above products were marketed to older children, though.

Leaders of the locally based Healthy Legacy group said the lead testing shows the need for further government safety intervention. Among other things, the group supports pending Minnesota legislation that would require manufacturers of children's products to report any use of nine potentially harmful metals.