Several months ago we decided to try to test two major brands of home lead tests. We wanted to see which one worked better. So we bought about $100 worth of lead testing kits and put two toys that had been recalled for their lead content to the test.
We had two major problems with our testing. The first was, these toys we knew had lead kept coming up negative. The tests were totally incapable of identifying the lead the CPSC had already told us was there.
Secondly, the testing process completely destroyed the toys. If we hadn't known whether the toys contained lead, the process would have been even more frustrating. Here's what Ernie looked like when we got through with him.
Those marks are spots where I gouged off bits so that I could swab under the surface of the paint. One of the lead tests we used made you put bits of the material into a test tube. It's the old "prove-you're-not-a-witch-by-drowning" story.
And again, we got no positives. Either we were doing something wrong - and we were following the directions carefully - or the test kits were completely unreliable. Either way, they were a complete waste of our money and time, and we didn't end up with any results we considered publishable.
But with consumer awareness about the widespread presence of lead in kids' toys growing by the day, a new niche business opportunity has cropped up: Using highly sensitive XrF (X-Ray fluorescence) technology to test products for lead quickly and without affecting the tested item.
We recently asked Inspect-A-Toy, a company that makes house calls in Southern California to test kid and baby products for lead using a portable XfR gun, to do a demo of their lead testing service via mail.
We'll be shipping them a box of toys to test, and they'll send back the toys and a detailed report on any lead content as well as other nasties like arsenic, mercury, and cadmium. We're going to throw in a paint sample, too - we have lots of layers of old paint in our house and I'd be surprised if they didn't contain lead.
Here's what we've rounded up so far. We have tried to include some likely candidates as well as a few things we'd be pretty surprised to find lead in.
When you browse through our selection below, think about your own home - we're trying to get the best kit possible together, and will be pretty disappointed if we don't turn up lead somewhere. What toy types or major brands are missing that would be worth including here? What do you wish you could test for lead in your home?
From the dollar section at Target.
A kids' reward point from a grocery store.
This guy's a control. He's made of lead.
Fisher-Price Sweet Streets figure. This one I had to sneak past Z.
Rosie the Riveter and broken Cleopatra action figures by Accoutrements. This is the company responsible for the phthalate-containing "Devil Ducks" rubber duckies. And no, Inspect-A-Toy can't test for BPA or phthalates. They also make a Jane Austen action figure, who I misidentified to Z as Charlotte Bronte, and who will now forever be Charlotte Bronte in our household. Charlotte Bronte is staying home.
A plastic tiger. This one was expensive - we should probably send a few of the bagged cheap plastic animals as well.
A nodding turtle from Mexico.
A hair clip. I think we will send some more hair stuff.
These are pieces of wooden slicing food. The lefthand piece is from a tomato by Melissa & Doug. The righthand one is from a radish by Target's house brand.
This one was hard for us to decide to send but seemed necessary. It's a well-used toy that is at least 50 years old.
We're sending this part.
A monkey from one of those monkey-chain games.
I'm going to send the lid, too.
Comment below to help us get the best possible kit together before we send it out. Do you have any suggestions of other types of toys or items we should consider sending along?
29 comments:
Would love to have some of my daughter's teething toys tested (Infantino, Sassy) - she's only 6 months old. Although, maybe not...I'd be terrified of the results. Some of the infant toys out there look very suspicious. As well as the countless Fisher Price toys aimed at toddlers.
i'm wondering if the toys you tested really did not have lead in them. yes, they were part of a recalled group but i think those groups have toys in them that have a high probability of containing lead but may or may not depending on all the different manufacturing locations, etc. just a thought. the home kits could also not be any good.
metal cars, school buses, etc?
Our pediatrician ordered a lead test on our daughter between 9 and 12 months old, that is the best way to figure out if a child has been exposed to lead or not.
How about books, particularly ones made of non-paper material, like bath books?
Stickers?
Plastic tableware, especially if made in China.
And what about things that aren't toys specifically, but get handled/mouthed, like a cordless telephone? Maybe that's outside your scope, but it would be interesting.
I would suggest a few things already mentioned, like
Bath Toys/Books
Infant Toys
Dinnerware
But I would also like to see a "babydoll" type item included. My daughter LOVES to play with babies and I would be curious to see if some of the popular brands (or some of the old school ones) contained lead.
For the Baby Doll, we have those little $2 ones from Taget or anywhere, we call them "ghetto babies" but they would be cheap to send. As well, what about a lego (the little people have paint on them) or some kitchen stuff from the play kitchen, cups, etc. Rory likes to drink from them for real. We also have tons of little things from the $ spot at Target, so glad you are sending some. It is so easy to grab something their to make kiddos happy while you shop! Thanks for doing this, and everything else you do to keep Z and our kids safe!
I often wonder about toys you get with the kids meals at fast food chains. The children are eating with their hands and playing with the toys.....
I would love to see if the bath toys nesting cups, and the first years rubber ducky. Seems anything that involves water at my house goes into the mouth.
It is highly probable that the toys tested were truly negative for lead. One problem with foreign manufacturing, or so I've heard, is that items from a single lot are not all made using the same paint or plastic or other materials. A batch of toy cars may be 82% done with the non-lead based orange paint specified by the parent company in the US but when it runs out, the manufacturers overseas just go out and buy the cheapest, closest orange paint they can find to finish the remaining cars -- not necessarily free of lead.
Also -- I work for our local health department (not in the lead dept though)and our housing folks have recently (within the last 6-12 months) acquired equipment to test consumer products including toys for lead. One afternoon a week any member of the public can bring in items and have them tested -- for free. No appointment is necessary. I think it's Tuesdays here in Indianapolis. I bet other county health departments have similar programs.
I do in home lead testing using an Niton XRF analyzer, so I have a little bit experience. I also offer toy testing seminars at various locations in the Los Angeles area. In my experience, the toys that test with high levels of lead have been painted rubber ducky bath toys, particularly Santa Claus or fireman (basically, rubber duckies with red); tea sets that are Mexican style pottery or Italian flower painted; inexpensive musical instrument sets; and painted metal figures and robots. The Sassy teething toys I've tested have always tested fine.
Estelle is right - the only way to check your child's blood lead level is by testing.
Jennifer
www.thesmartmama.com
Oh, and I meant to add, that any polyvinyl chloride plastic item - whether it is an electrical cord, coated tool handle, baby bib, diaper changing pad, or a toy - can test high. PVC must be stabilized, usually with a metallic compound. That compound is usually lead. In California, those items should be labeled under Proposition 65 with a Proposition 65 warning if there is lead present (since there is no federal standard), but those warnings are often on the packaging and get separated.
Jennifer
www.thesmartmama.com
our daughter was tested with traces of lead when she was 12 months old. Although it is not toxic level, anything above zero was not acceptable to us. We purchased every kind of lead test kits and didn't find anything. We finally got a lead expert/consultant to come into the home and he told us that materials that are plastic with colors throughout the plastic are not suspects. Toys with metals are, especially wind up toys that have metal mechanisms inside. Stained glass windows uses lead frame to hold the pieces of glass together. Also any painted pottery such as ceramic bowls/plates should not be used on babies.
We also found out that the sure way to test for lead is to swip suspect materials and send the swip into a lab for testing. It is expensive, for us, it was $35 per sample, but well worth it. We found out that the lead contamination came from our mexican tiles we had in the kitchen and family room. This was a big suprise to everyone including our pediatrician.
I have a few other things I'd add to your package-
Baby/toddler books with puffy plastic covers. We has some Sesame Street ones from the grandparents and when all the SS bath stuff was recalled, my hubby threw them all away, too.
Also, refrigerator magnets. Alphabet kind, or the new ones that talk.
Bath toys- These are especially tempting to chew with the little nubs on them:http://www.amazon.com/Sassy-Snap-Squirt-Sea-Creatures/dp/B000B90GAY/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1211548963&sr=8-1
Chevron cars- my in-laws have a huge collection that my son plays with when we go over there. Yes, at 26 months he STILL puts everything in his mouth.
The poster that said plastic toys with color throughout can't be a problem isn't quite right. I tested my daughter's plastic yellow drumsticks that were solid yellow plastic. They tested at 45,000 ppm with the XRF - that is for total lead, not soluble, but still . . . I didn't want her sticking them in her mouth or handling them at all.
Mexican style painted tiles frequently come back high for total lead . . .
And, just an FYI, I test toys sent by mail for $5 each (which is less than the wipe sample approach).
Jennifer
www.thesmartmama.com
i'd love to see the melissa and doug results...they say they're safe, but the stuff is made in china and it worries me.
any haba stuff?
My son tested slightly positive for lead exposure and so I tested some of my son's toys using the chemical on the cotton swab type test. A hand made, family heirloom stool that was painted before 1970 and a ficher price snoopy dog -also from the early 1970s came up positive for lead. For example, the snoopy dog had lead in the red paint on the wheels AND lead staples through the plastic 'leash'. The cotton swab was noticeably giving a positive signal on these items even though I did not scrape away much paint.
Be sure that where you are scraping the toy on the Ernie is the spot where the lead was found. It could be in the black hair or somewhere else in one spot on the toy.
Paint on tee- shirts. I always wonder about tee-shirts and ribbons. I think l helps make paint flexible, so I always wonder about clothes.
Some kids chew on their shirts or the tails of ribbons in their hair, so I think it would be a good test.
I am also curious about legos. My son is almost 12 months and has a lot of primo baby legos that he loves. I also avoid the bath books as I don't see any way they can't contain led. It would be nice to know what a safe bath toy is. I have started giving my son only cloth bath items as he loved chewing rubber/plastic bath toys.
I'd be curious to see the outcome of tests on,
Plastic dishes from Target or even the more expensive shops.
The little tea sets plastic or porcelain.
Plastic jewelry like Mardis Gras beads.
Add some Mardi Gras Beads! My dDaughter uses these for dress up all the time & I've often wondered about them. Who doesn't leave NOLA with out some beads only to hand them to the nearest litte kids when they get home?
any toys with red/orange paint made in china. i'd like to see results from the wooden abc blocks that you can buy from target (made in china).
I'd love to see a Fisher Price Little People "person" tested. Can't wait to see what comes back from this test!
How about some Toys R Us brand toys (Imaginarium) such as the trains or cars/trucks or buildings from a train set? I'm also interested in the bath books, as we just recently received some. Matchbox or Hot Wheels cars. We have a Winnie the Pooh bath toy I'm curious about as well as Winnie the Pooh blocks, these all seem to be PVC, so likely contaminated. My son doesn't put stuff in his mouth anymore, but now my daughter is playing with his things so... his toys are all three years old.
Definitely Mardi Gras beads. How about pool toys? Floatie rings, beach balls, etc basically anything vinyl. We also tried out the home lead test kit and everything we tested came up negative but I wonder... We try to stay away from vinyl, metallic plastics, and kids jewelry as a rule of thumb.
I had purchased a clear plastic cup where the handle is the straw; when I went testing crazy I pulled it out of the cupboard as we hadn't used it but once and lo and behold, it tested positive for lead. I also buy cute hand painted kid's ceramics from Home Goods and wonder if they are made with lead paint. I can't tell where they were made now that the labels are off the bottom. Could it really be that children's dinnerware contains lead paint? I read that the ones from Portugal and Italy may be suspect?
Almost all our puzzles (and some blocks) are from Melissa and Doug. I'd love to know if they are actually as safe as the company says they are. Also, I don't think I saw anything from Ikea in the group. I've been curious about their tea sets and kitchen gadgets for kids but anything Ikea would be interesting to test.
How about cheap dollar store pacifires.
I've got another one- kids toothbrushes.
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