Testing Children's Toys for Lead with XRF
In the last few years, and after the recall of tens of millions of toys primarily with high lead levels – but also other toxic metals such as cadmium and barium – came the passage of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) of 2008. What are the highlights of this law regarding lead in toys and what do they mean to you?
Watch CPSC video on testing toys for lead
- Decreased permissible levels of lead in paint on toys
- 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
XRF Screening – Easy as Child’s Play
With handheld and filed-mobile Thermo Scientific Niton x-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzers, available with GOLDD™ technology, screening toys for lead and testing for other toxic metals is easy as child’s play. Quick. Accurate. Precise.
An effective toy lead testing program using handheld or field-mobile XRF analysis greatly reduces the chances that lead containing materials will enter the toy manufacturing process, or accidentally end up on store shelves. This starts with a process that includes rapid screening of metals, plastic, wood, fabrics, and paints for lead:
- At the receiving dock
- In the warehouse
- During toy assembly
- Even at vendor sites, including testing through packaging to save time
You, and all stakeholders – importers, brand owners, retailers – can implement a standardized toy inspection protocol for incoming shipments to verify compliance, while simultaneously requiring supply chain documentation based on empirical testing. The further back in the supply chain that the lead toy test takes place, the easier it is to prevent lead from entering the hands of a child.
Thermo Scientific Niton XRF Analyzers – The Ideal Screening Tool for Lead in Toys
Thermo Scientific Niton XRF analyzers, from the handheld Niton® XL2 Series to the handheld Niton XL3t Series to the Niton FXL Series field x-ray lab are the ideal tools for screening toys for lead and toxic metals – all eight regulated elements in toys designed for children under the age of 12 (lead, barium, antimony, selenium, cadmium, mercury, arsenic, hexavalent chromium).
What’s more, they are the only XRF analyzers that are capable of differentiating between lead on the surface of a toy and lead that exists in all other substrates. You benefit in a variety of ways from this remarkable XRF tool:
- Easy to use – Thermo Scientific TestAll technology automatically selects the c
orrect analytical mode for non-technical users
- Fast – Screening of toys and materials takes seconds to minutes, not days. Decision to ship product can happen immediately
- Flexible – Screen toys and other child-accessible products for compliance with CPSIA, EN-71 and California's Proposition 65
- Powerful – Integrated CCD camera and spot size as small as 1 mm help you accurately isolate small samples & visually document your measurments
- Portable – The lead toy test can occur in-situ on the toy, 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 toy is not defaced or affected in any way
Toy Screening with Thermo Scientific Niton XRF Analyzers – A Name You Can Trust
Discover why major toy and consumer goods manufacturers, retailers, Internet shopping sites, as well as the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the Eurpoean 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 for lead toy testing.
US Consumer Product Safety Commission list of recalls for lead exposure hazard to date
