# Can lead be absorbed through pierced earlobe? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 30, 2015, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-lead-be-absorbed-through-pierced-earlobe/716340 "2015-03-30T15:45:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-lead-be-absorbed-through-pierced-earlobe/716340/1 "2015-03-30T15:45:09Z")
My daughter recently had her ears pierced (just through the lobe in the usual place. Nothing crazy.) and, being 8, is naturally drawn to the cute, cheap earrings at Claires, etc. But reading up online about cheap jewelry has us alarmed about possible lead poisoning. Example: > **[Costume jewelry found to have high levels of toxins and carcinogens, tests show](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/costume-jewelry-found-to-have-high-levels-of-toxins-and-carcinogens-tests-show/)** > > Low cost jewelry from stores ranging from Claire's to Target were found to have high levels of lead and cadmium, which can be deadly when ingested, researchers warn However, all the articles I can find talk about the danger of young children ingesting or sucking on the products. What I can’t find is: is there any danger from simply wearing jewelry that may contain lead? (yes, yes, why take the risk with a child, of course. But I want know the facts before making any decision.) Most of what I see online says that lead only passes through skin when found in organic compounds. But is an ear-piercing “skin”? or is the inside more like a wound? Anyone have any fact-based cites? ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-lead-be-absorbed-through-pierced-earlobe/716340/2 "2015-03-30T16:37:06Z")
It’s nickel you should worry about, not lead. (Or mercury, antimony or arsenic). And yes, wearing earrings containing nickel can cause life-long allergy problems. Gold, silver and palladium are OK. Note that “white gold” can be a gold/palladium, but also a gold/nickel alloy. ---
**Author:** ![Ornery\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/da6949/32.png) [@Ornery\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ornery_Bob)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-lead-be-absorbed-through-pierced-earlobe/716340/3 "2015-03-31T03:51:53Z")
Here’s a fact about lead you should consider before making your decision: _ **No safe threshold for lead exposure has been discovered—that is, there is no known sufficiently small amount of lead that will not cause harm to the body.** _ ([cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_poisoning)) Here’s what the [CDC says](http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/tips.htm) about it: _ **“Protecting children from exposure to lead is important to lifelong good health.”** _ There is no excuse for giving something you believe my contain lead to a child. Period. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-lead-be-absorbed-through-pierced-earlobe/716340/4 "2015-03-31T15:13:07Z")
> [@Ignotus](#): > > It’s nickel you should worry about, not lead. (Or mercury, antimony or arsenic). And yes, wearing earrings containing nickel can cause life-long allergy problems. > > Gold, silver and palladium are OK. Note that “white gold” can be a gold/palladium, but also a gold/nickel alloy. To be clear, the “life-long allergy problems” are a rash or something similar after contact with nickel-containing objects. IOW if after wearing cheap-ass jewelry for years, one develops such a sensitivity, one can treat the problem by simply no longer wearing cheapie crap. People being people, I didn’t want anyone thinking you could wind up with an Epi-Pen anaphylaxis level allergy to nickel – or at least, I’ve never in my life heard such a thing – or that you could wind up with a peanut allergy or something. 😛 I used to wear cheapie crap and now avoid it – makes the piercing spot kinda itchy, but nothing worse than that. I believe it’s considered “skin” and not a wound, though. ETA: one online source for nickel-free jewelry is Simply Whispers at [www.simplywhispersstore.com](http://www.simplywhispersstore.com/). I’ve ordered from them before, since I try to avoid nickel alloys now. OP, they have \*\*\*lots \*\*\*of cutesey little-girl type studs, in addition to non-earring jewelry.