Health & Welfare | Daily Report

Aaron/Wikimedia Commons

Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi loves a lot of things. The gym, tanning, laundry. Skin-tight dresses, Ron Ron Juice and muscles. But when it comes to finding someone to love, Snooki, the pint-sized, pouf-haired star of MTV’s hit reality TV show "Jersey Shore," is struggling.

"I’m a very sweet girl. I’m loving. I like to go out and have fun. But I cannot find that perfect gorilla juicehead," she lamented to David Letterman last year.

But this Valentine’s Day, Snooki might finally find romance – thanks to her own jewelry line.

In an ad for her collection, Snooki falls for an unlikely suitor after being hypnotized by the Snooki Love Pendant. The necklace – a red and black enamel heart pierced by a cubic zirconia-studded arrow and engraved with Snooki’s signature logo – makes her heart soar. But does it fly with California and federal jewelry laws limiting toxic metals?

Joanna Lin/California Watch

Both federal and state laws restrict lead in jewelry. Long-term and high exposure to lead is toxic and potentially fatal. The heavy metal can harm the nervous system, brain, kidneys and reproductive system. Starting next year, California will limit cadmium in jewelry as well. Cadmium is a known carcinogen that can damage lungs and weaken bones.

California Watch bought five of the Snooki Love Pendants, designed and sold for $19 each by online jewelry retailer DiamondShark. We had the Center for Environmental Health, an environmental watchdog group in Oakland, test the necklaces for lead and cadmium.

The center screened each pendant, said to be made of sterling silver-plated brass, in an X-ray fluorescence analyzer, a machine commonly used to test jewelry and other consumer products for heavy metals. The verdict: all clean, with no detectable amount of lead or cadmium in them.

That’s good news for the hundreds of people who, according to DiamondShark founder Kenneth Hamlet, bought the Snooki Love Pendant within a day of its release last week. The online shop plans to sell thousands.

While the Snooki Love Pendant won’t expose you to any toxic metals, whether it will bring you love is debatable.

Still, a product description for the necklace offers some advice to those still searching for a Valentine: "It takes more than just rock hard abs and a slick blowout to win a girl like Snooki’s heart. … It takes class, taste and sophistication. And a really nice tan."