In your baubles? It's possible you do. The investigative project California Watch recently reported on the issue of significantly harmful amounts of lead in jewelry sold in the state of California. Accordingly, California Watch, which is based in the Bay Area, will be visiting Echo Park tomorrow (Thursday), where they will host an unusual event: a jewelry screening. For free. Bring your jewelry to the shop Nahui Ohlin on Sunset, and Cali Watch will tell you whether the pretty bauble you thought was a steal is quietly poisoning you. If you're going to go mad for jewels, you might as well know it.

Here's part of the notice Chicken Corner received:

On October 2, California Watch published a story revealing that state regulators have issued five violation notices in 16 months to a national retailer for repeatedly selling jewelry containing harmful levels of lead - one had more than 2,600 times above the legal threshold. During the investigation, California Watch reporters bought 30 jewelry items from the retailer, Rainbow Apparel, which has 35 stores throughout California including 14 in the Los Angeles area. Twenty percent of the items purchased contained unlawful levels of lead.

In response to concerns about the lead hazards in jewelry, California Watch will host a jewelry-screening event in Echo Park. California Watch welcomes consumers who have bought jewelry from any retailer - whether it's a big chain, a sidewalk vendor or at a flea market - to bring their jewelry to the Echo Park screenings for tests that will yield results in a matter of seconds. Jewelry will be tested with an X-ray fluorescence analyzer, the same equipment that state regulators rely upon to perform initial lead screenings.

Info: Thursday, October 14; Noon - 6 p.m.; Nahui Ohlin; 1511 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles.

California Watch is part of The Center for Investigative Reporting.

Meanwhile ... what Chicken Corner can say: Jewelry -- and who gets it/got it -- has been the root of some crazy behavior in my family. Sure would be great if they could fix that over at Nahui Ohlin tomorrow. It might require a different kind of screening though.