Jewelry Materials

Acrylic jewelry is most often worn in enlarged piercings when light-weight jewelry is desired. Acrylic is not intended to be worn in fresh or unhealed piercings. There is some debate among piercers regarding the safety of long term wear. Acrylic has not been clinically proven to be safe for wear in the body. Jewelry should be inspected frequently for scratches which can irritate the piercing and trap bacteria.

Acrylic is very brittle and will shatter under stress. For releasing beads in captive bead rings, first warm the ring in the palm of your hand; do not use ring-expanding pliers. Acrylic cannot be autoclaved. Extended exposure to any type of alcohol will degrade acrylic jewelry.

Monofilament nylon and teflon are used where a more flexible piece of jewelry is desired or if the wearer is senstive to metals. Both can be autoclaved.

Securing monofilament is often difficult. Appropriately bored threaded metal balls can be screwed onto the ends; the metal threads will cut threads in the monofilament. The ends may be flattened into a disc shape using a hot knife but the results may not be smooth or comfortable.

We have found a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved acrylic styrene copolymer (hereby referred to as "our acrylic"). Our acrylic provides superior resistance to stress hazing and surface grazing when compared to straight acrylic. The FDA has approved our acrylic for applications in which it is in contact with the body. Our acrylic meets USP XXI Class VI plastics guidelines for medical devices.

The USP XXI Class VI testing is done by United States Pharmacopoeia which conducts biological tests for Class VI plastics. It has been determined that our acrylic meets USP XXI Class VI specifications and therefore is acceptable for use in medical applications. Cytotoxicity as well as Hemolysis tests were also done. The cytotoxicity test determine the degree of cell destruction caused by exposing certain cell cultures to an extract of the polymer. The Hemolysis test determines the degree of destruction of blood cells that occurs when specific extracts of the polymer are introduced into the blood. The results of these tests show that our acrylic is non-toxic as well as non-hemolytic.

It is our position that no glow-in-the-dark acrylic can be safe for the body. The phosphorescent material is carcinogenic. It should not be in contact with the body for any time. The alternative is UV or Black Lite acrylic which is reactive under a black light and appears to glow. This UV material is not carcinogenic.

At this time no known acrylic jewelry can be sterilized by autoclave. We have tested our acrylic in the most frequently used cold sterilization solutions.

MadaCide: After soaking for 72 hours there was no cracking or discoloration of the jewelry. Isopropyl alcohol (91%): Soaking for 48 hours yielded the same result. We are in the process of looking into Gamma Ray Radiation sterilization.