Testing Furniture for Lead and Toxins with XRF
The paint and wood finishes used in children's furniture can contain hazardous levels of lead. Also regulated are lead levels in plastic, metal and other components used to build these furnishings. Recalls of cribs, for example, in addition to other child-accessible products have brought the issue into the spotlight and helped lead to the passage of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA), also known as H.R. 4040. What are the highlights of this law and what do they mean to you, the manufacturers, finishing suppliers, importers, and retailers of furniture?
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- Decreased permissible levels of lead in furniture paint and finishes
- Regulated levels of lead in all other materials
- Increased civil penalties
- Critical deadlines for lower lead content first on February 10, 2009, and again, most recently, on August 14, 2009
Handheld XRF and Field-Mobile Helps You Rest Easy
According to the new law, testing children's furniture for lead includes but is not limited to:
- Beds/cribs
- Bookcases/shelves
- Chairs
- Chests
- Tables
- Dressers
- Desks
So, what's the most efficient and cost-effective way for you to handle children's furniture screening? Thermo Scientific Niton x-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzers, now available with GOLDD™ technology. Using these breakthrough instruments, you can confidently test furniture for lead, screen cribs for lead, as well as all furniture components. Quickly. Accurately. Precisely.
An effective program to test children's furniture for lead using XRF analysis greatly reduces the chances that lead containing materials will enter the manufacturing process, or accidentally end up on furniture store shelves. This starts with a process that includes rapid screening of metals, plastic, wood, fabrics, and paints:
- At the receiving dock
- In the warehouse
- During furniture assembly
- Even at vendor sites, including testing through packaging to save time
You, and all stakeholders, can implement a standardized inspection protocol for incoming furniture shipments to verify compliance, while simultaneously requiring supply chain documentation based on empirical testing. The further back in the supply chain that the children's furniture lead test takes place, the easier it is to prevent a non-compliant article from finding its way into a child's home.
Thermo Scientific Niton XRF Analyzers – With You at the Finish Line
Thermo Scientific Niton XRF analyzers, from the handheld Niton® XL2 Series to the handheld Niton XL3t Series to our Niton FXL Series field x-ray lab, are the ideal tools to screen for lead in children's furniture, as well as the seven other regulated elements in products designed for children under the age of 12 (lead, barium, antimony, selenium, cadmium, mercury, arsenic, hexavalent chromium).
What's more, they are the only handheld XRF analyzers capable of differentiating between lead on the surface of an object like furniture and lead that exists in all other substrates (there are limitations associated with plated material). You benefit in a variety of ways from this remarkable tool:
- Fast – Screening takes seconds to minutes, not days. Decision to ship or pull furniture products can be made immediately
- Flexible – Screen raw materials, components and finished furniture for compliance with CPSIA, EN-71 and California's Proposition 65
- Easy to use – TestAll™ technology automatically selects the correct analytical mode for non-technical users
- Powerful – Integrated camera and spot size as small as 1 mm help you accurately isolate small samples and visually document your measurements
- Portable – You can screen for lead in children's furniture in-situ, in the factory, product integrity lab, on the dock, or in the warehouse...or can easily be used for vendor audits
- Non-destructive – The analyzed product is not defaced or affected in any way
Thermo Scientific Niton XRF Analyzers – Always in Style
Discover why major toy and consumer goods manufacturers, furniture retailers, Internet shopping sites, as well as the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the European Union's Product Safety Enforcement Forum (PROSAFE), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Customs & Border Protection, and Health Canada have all chosen and use the handheld Thermo Scientific Niton XRF analyzer.
Contact us today for a demonstration and discover how these versatile instruments can easily help you meet the requirements of the CPSIA and keep our children's furniture safe!
US Consumer Product Safety Commission list of recalls for lead exposure hazard to date.
