Popular jewellery sold on Amazon urgently recalled over harmful chemical that can ‘damage organs and cause cancer'
AN URGENT recall has been issued for a popular jewellery brand available from Amazon.
There are concerns that the products, which contain a harmful chemical, could pose a significant health risk.
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The products - a metal ring and metal earrings - from Dervivea Metal Jewellery have been recalled.
It affects the brand's silver coloured metal ring and silver coloured sword shaped metal earrings, both of which are available on Amazon.
The Office for Product Safety and Standards issued the recall after the product was found to contain cadmium.
A statement from OPSS reads: "The product presents a serious chemical risk as the cadmium content was found to be greater than the maximum permissible limit in both the metal ring and metal earrings.
"Cadmium is harmful to human health as it accumulates in the body, can damage organs and may cause cancer."
While cadmium was previously commonly used in various consumer and industrial products - it is now heavily restricted in the EU due to its health risks.
According to the UK Government: "Exposure to cadmium for a long period of time may result in damage to the kidneys and bones and may cause cancer."
Now, the material is mostly only used in nickel-cadmium batteries, or for conductors.
The product listings have both been recalled by Amazon, with customers advised to contact the distributer they purchased the product from to request redress.
Those ingesting or breathing in high levels of cadmium are most at risk.
Fashion fans are running to Asda for 'amazing value' holiday jewellery - including must-have £3.50 claw clips
Breathing in air with high levels of cadmium can cause "a metallic taste in the mouth, shortness of breath, chest pain, cough and flu-like symptoms."
In severe cases it can lead to "lung damage extensive fluid loss, multiple organ failure and death."
The level of cadmium encountered on a day-to-day basis in the environment, and in certain foods, is not a cause of concern for consumers.
If you are concerned about your health following prolonged exposure to cadmium, you should seek guidance from your GP or contact NHS 111.
It comes following several other recalls regarding products containing banned chemicals.
Earlier this week, a luxury candle and perfume gift set was recalled after a chemical that can damage the female reproductive system and harm unborn babies was found in the product.
The Maison Louis Marie No 04 Bois de Balinbourt gift set was found to contain Butylphenyl methylpropional (BMHCA) which is prohibited in cosmetic products.
The chemical was made illegal for use consumer products in 2022 due to concerns that it could cause reproductive issues.
Another jewellery-related recal l was issued at the end of last year after concerns of a "serious chemical risk".
The Beeline Belly Bar was recalled in December because of elevated levels of nickel.
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It just sounded so technical and so terrifying. And the idea of the complete destruction of the immune system in order to make your child independent of three-weekly hospital visits, was mind-boggling.' In a bone marrow transplant, the faulty marrow is replaced with healthy marrow from a matched donor, offering the possibility of a haematological cure. Graft-versus-host rejection can occur, though the risk is significantly lower if the donor is a family member, especially a sibling. (It is extremely rare for parents to be a match, and neither Holland nor Freddie were suitable donors.) Preparation for the transplant involves complete isolation and a course of chemotherapy and other drugs designed to destroy the immune system. Before Vida's DBA was even confirmed, Holland was convinced that transplant was her best option. 'I don't want illness to be her life's focus,' she writes. 'I wanted her to have all the freedom of movement and mind that healthy children and adults have.' In early 2020, Holland found out she was pregnant again. She and Freddie had wanted a second child anyway, 'and I really am keen to emphasise that he was never designed to be a saviour sibling', she says. The chances of that child being a match for Vida were one in four, and initially Holland had considered IVF to try to engineer this. 'But it was going to cost so much money, and the chances of it working were tiny. So we thought, well – one in four, let's try. We wanted another child, and if there was any way they could help, brilliant. 'Our second child will not be a 'designer baby',' Holland writes. 'Our child will be a much-loved family member who happens to have a trait that could help their sister in a way no one else could. We want to give Vida the best chance we can.' Gabriel was born in the winter of 2020, and in January 2021 they received the phone call – Gabriel did not have DBA. The relief was immense. 'A geneticist would say that because we already had a child with it, yes, the chances were higher, but actually based on probability it was a very low chance that he would have it as well. But obviously we were still scared.' A month later she and Freddie were informed that, should a transplant be warranted, Gabriel was a match for Vida. They were cautiously euphoric. 'When we found out that he was a match, it became a bit of a no-brainer. It was a big decision to go ahead with the transplant, because it's high-risk, but around that time the advice was changing: when she was diagnosed as a tiny baby, what we were hearing from the other parents in the DBA community and from her doctor, was this is not a decision you take lightly – it's dangerous, it's a year out of mainstream life, and there are a lot of things that could go wrong. Two years later, new research showed much better outcomes, both from donors who are related and not, and that the quality of life outcomes for kids who had had transplants were quite favourable compared to living on blood transfusions. 'I feel apprehensive about saying this because I know that there are lots of parents with children who are on transfusions, who are leading rich lives, but I know it's not easy.' In March 2023, Vida had her transplant, with bone marrow donated by her brother. Their parents did not underestimate the emotional implications of this. 'We have told Vida that Gabriel is 'sharing some of his blood with her',' Holland writes in Lifeblood. 'She is concerned about him 'going to sleep'; having his blood removed; we tell her that he has lots of it and that he won't remember […] Until now, Freddie and I have minimised the significance of what he will have to endure – the many blood tests, the general anaesthetic, the soreness in his lower back where the bone marrow will be taken, and the consequent anaemia which will require months of iron supplementation […] we are signing up our baby for the possibility of pain and distress. This doesn't sit comfortably.' In anticipation of the transplant, Vida had spent weeks in hospital, and had a Hickman line fitted through which to administer her 'conditioning treatment' – a cocktail of meds, including the chemotherapy, which inevitably made her ill, and caused her to lose her hair. But the transplant was a success. Gabriel's stem cell donation was 'abundant', her doctor informed them, and the new cells established successfully. She remained in hospital for five-and-a-half weeks as her immune system was non-existent, whereas Gabriel was sent home the following day and made a very quick recovery. When Vida returned home, there were restrictions. She had to take nine different medications four times a day; she had a controlled diet and could only drink boiled water. 'Every aspect of her day is monitored, curated, limited somehow,' writes Holland. Vida is six now, and flourishing. She started school midway through her reception year and is doing well, though she still has many hospital appointments. DBA makes her susceptible to certain cancers, so she has to be careful with sun protection, and she'll be on penicillin for life. Gabriel is sometimes jealous of these precautions and asks for medicine too. 'She's the patient, and it's obviously been hardest for her, but it's also been tough on Gabriel – in different ways. After the transplant, she often had to be readmitted, and we'd have to leave at a moment's notice to go to A&E at St Mary's. That was really hard for him; he was only three.' Vida hasn't questioned the constant hospital visits, Holland says. It's all she knows. 'I spent so long grieving that she was not going to have a normal life, that we were missing out on all the school activities and the swimming lessons – I was so worried about all that, but there have been aspects of it that have been quite wonderful, and I don't say that lightly.' Remarkably, Holland says, 'Vida loves going to hospital now. She used to get very frightened about the blood tests, it was traumatic for her and for us, but when I look at it as a whole, hospital has been a place where she gets focused time with one or both of her parents, she gets a lot of adult attention, she gets art therapy, she gets music therapy, she gets lots of presents. There have been rich moments too as well as very long, very empty, uncertain and frightening days. 'I think that how Vida's trauma is expressed will obviously evolve over time, and I feel I need to be quite alert as to how things could come out for her as she gets older.' At Easter, Vida's school put on an 'Eggstravaganza' where all the children were asked to make a diorama featuring hard-boiled eggs. 'I said, we've got to win this – let's make the hospital.' So they created 'Egg-elina Children's Hospital', based on the Evelina, with yolk transfusions and an 'eggs-ray'. And Vida won. The idea of the book came up while Holland was pregnant with Gabriel. 'I wrote it in a very sort of stolen-moments way, over about four years. The original plan was for it to be about Vida's first year, and finding acceptance, accommodating the unexpected. When things feel really bleak, it's hard to see how any good can come of them, but I know a lot of good has come from what happened. 'Even with the transfusions, I am glad those days are over but I look back on them fondly because I felt so held – particularly in the early days when I was always trying to second guess how she was doing, what her blood count was; I was always gazing at her face and ears and lips, trying to work out how anaemic she was. But when she went into hospital, I was sharing the responsibility. Obviously I wish that Vida hadn't had to go through what she has, and we could have been spared it – but it's sort of all I know now. I've been rewired.' In the UK, one in 25 babies is born with a genetic condition of some kind, and Holland's book will resonate with other parents facing similar challenges. Writing down what happened really helped, she says, 'and having a sense of – it sounds like a cliché – but being able to take control of the story. It was good to put it in my own words; I often don't know how I feel about things until I've written them down.' She is full of gratitude for the NHS. 'The biggest takeaway is just how hugely lucky we are to have the NHS, and what a precious thing it is. It's been incredible. I would love to know what Vida's medical bill is after six years of this; even the chelation medicine she had to have while she was on transfusion was well into five figures a year.' What people can do to help, she says, is give blood. Her book is out, inadvertently, just after World Blood Donor Day, which is on 14 June. 'For an hour spent in a blood donor centre you can save up to three lives. And in order to maintain blood supplies, 140,000 first-time donors are needed every year. 'I would just like to convey that it is an easy thing to do – having watched countless needles go into Vida, I've probably become hardened to it – and it has profound benefits for society.' How does she feel about Vida reading about herself in Lifeblood in the future? 'I feel quite guilty about the fact that for her first year I was just so sad, and I've been worried about what she might experience reading that. But I like to think that what comes across is extreme love.'
