The law defines body piercing jewelry as “any part of jewelry that is manufactured or sold for placement in a new piercing or a mucous membrane but does not include any part of that jewelry that is not placed within a new piercing or a mucous membrane.” Beginning March 1, 2008, a person shall not manufacture, ship, sell, or offer for sale body piercing jewelry — the part of the jewelry that is placed directly within the new piercing or mucous membrane — for retail sale in California unless it is made up entirely of one or more of the following materials:

• Surgical implant-grade stainless steel,
• Surgical implant-grade of titanium,
• Niobium (Nb),
• Solid 14-karat or higher white or yellow nickel-free gold,
• Solid platinum, or
• A dense low-porosity plastic, including but not limited to Tygon or Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), if the plastic contains no intentionally added lead.

DTSC will be focusing its enforcement resources on whether the materials used for new piercings or mucous membranes contain detectable levels of lead. Jewelry that is not placed directly within a new piercing or mucous membrane, such as a bead on a belly button ring, must meet the requirements specified for other “jewelry.” Therefore, for adult jewelry, any components of the body piercing jewelry not placed within a new piercing or mucous membrane must be made entirely from a Class 1, Class 2, or Class 3 material, or any combination of these three classes of materials. Any jewelry made for children ages 6 and under that is not placed directly within a new piercing or mucous membrane, such as any component attached to a starter earring stud that does not go directly through the piercing, must meet the requirements for “children's jewelry” as defined by the law.