Can't get something for nothing

So the latest dangerous-product-from-China scandal is kiddie jewelry.

Seems that in an effort to cut prices while following US regulations, the jewelry producers have cooperatively removed the lead, but substituted it with cadmium, another nasty heavy metal, carcinogen, brain-stunting, all that. It seems that there's no rules against cadmium in kid's jewelry.

Oops.

When will we, as a nation, realize that there is a hidden cost in cheap stuff?

Cheap products are made of cheap stuff. And sometimes that stuff is cheap because it's less desirable (for example, less healthy). Think melamine. Think heparin. If something looks too cheap to be true, it is. The company is going to cut corners to make a profit.

Is buying more cheap stuff for our kids really worth it, at the expense of their health? At the expense of the jewelry workers' health? At the expense of the jewelry workers' living wage?