Toys & Consumer Goods
Toys & Consumer Goods Screening with Handheld XRF
Verification, testing, and screening for toxic metal in consumer goods such as toys are imperative to protect our children from lead poisoning and to reduce the risk associated with distributing lead-containing products.
Partially due to the startling amount of lead in toys that was found on retail shelves over the past few years, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) of 2008 was signed into law. What are the highlights of this consumer product safety law and what do they mean to you?
Watch CPSC video
- Decreased permissible levels of lead in paint
- 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 – The Ideal Tool for Consumer Goods Screening
When it comes to screening toys for lead, or screening other child-accessible products like apparel and furniture, Thermo Scientific Niton XRF analyzers, also available with groundbreaking GOLDD™ technology, are the only handheld x-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzers that can distinguish between lead on the surface of an object from lead in the substrate. Quick. Accurate. Precise. Our XRF analyzers can provide the solution when you need to test consumer goods for lead or other toxic metals, including those listed in ASTM F-963 and EN-71 which regulate consumer products designed for children under the age of 12.
- Lead (Pb)
- Barium (Ba)
- Antimony (Sb)
- Selenium (Se)
- Cadmium (Cd)
- Mercury (Hg)
- Arsenic (As)
- Chromium (Cr)
| "The XRF analyzer allows us to do a quick, on-the-spot check for lead. It's portable, and we can use this technology and get immediate results." Dr. Joel Recht, director Chemistry Division, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, "CPSC Utilizes New Tool to Crack Down on Toys with Lead - XRF Gun Helping Agency Protect Children from Lead," CPSC Video News Release, November 13, 2008 |
The One to Trust – Meeting the Demands of the CPSIA
The Thermo Scientific Niton analyzer is the same instrument that was chosen and is trusted by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the European Union's Product Safety Enforcement Forum (PROSAFE), and numerous leading manufacturers and retailers in the consumer goods industry. You benefit in a variety of ways from these remarkable tools:
- Flexible – Screen toys, apparel, fashion jewelry, furniture, and other soft and hard goods for lead, in compliance with the CPSIA, EN-71, and California's Proposition 65
- Easy to use – TestAll™ technology automatically selects the correct analytical mode for non-technical users
- Powerful – Optional camera and small spot helps you accurately isolate small samples & visually document your measurements
- Handheld – The lead toy test can occur in-situ on the toy, in the factory, product integrity lab, on the dock, or in the warehouse
- Fast – Lead and toxic material screening takes seconds to minutes, not days. Decision to ship product can happen immediately
- Non-destructive – The analyzed toy or product is not defaced or affected in any way
TestAll Tells All
TestAll technology adds powerful features to what are already the most versatile handheld XRF analyzers available today. It automatically selects the correct analytical mode, helping to eliminate guesswork for faster, more efficient product screening. Of greater importance, this new software along with the included Painted Products mode, makes the Niton® XL2 Series and Niton XL3t Series the only handheld XRF analyzers capable of differentiating between
- Lead on the surface of an object, such as paint or glaze (measured in µg/cm2)
- Lead that exists in all other substrates, such as plastic, metal, or wood (measured in ppm)
Niton XL2 Series – Your Value Choice
Now, even smaller manufacturers can use the same technology, from the same manufacturer, as those tasked with enforcing regulations restricting lead in child-accessible toys and products.
- Angled LCD with color touch-screen display, easy to read icons and updated user interface
- Excels at lead screening in toys and consumer products
- Standard analysis range of up to 25 elements
- Upgradeable to GOLDD technology
Niton XL3t Series – Your Feature Choice
Screening consumer goods for lead and toxic materials with our handheld Niton XL3 XRF analyzers not only provides nearly instantaneous results, but can greatly reduce the need for costly, time consuming traditional laboratory testing.
- Simple enough for the receiving crew; just press the trigger. The Niton XL3 displays test results on the integrated tilting color touch-screen display in seconds.
- Stringent enough for your Product Integrity staff, with low limits of detection; all results are reported at 95% confidence.
- Strict enough for your legal department, with tamperproof data for a legally defensible documentation trail.
- Fast enough for your Production Manager, with little interruption to manufacturing cycles.
- Optional camera help speed placement of the analyzer on discrete areas of sample, while available small spot isolates tiny sample areas
Niton XL3t GOLDD+ – Ultimate Performance & Features
When faced with high sample volume or the need to test for low levels of lead, including minute amounts in thin surface coatings such as paint, the enhanced
Niton XL3t GOLDD+ gives you the highest performance for the lowest detection limits & shortest possible measurement times. The CPSC even went as far as to say that "...(XRF) spectrometry has the potential to accurately measure lead content in painted films on children's products..." in their report to Congress (
Study on the Effectiveness, Precision, and Reliability of X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry and Other Alternative Methods for Measuring Lead in Paint, August 2009) once suitable standard reference materials (SRMs) are available.
- Highest sensitivity and measurement accuracy, especially important for testing painted products for lead
- Light element analysis (Mg, Al, Si, P, S)
- Highest performance for shortest possible testing times
To learn more, register for our next webinar
Contact us today for a demonstration and discover how these versatile XRF instruments can help you meet the lead and toxic material testing requirements of the CPSIA and keep our children safe!
US Consumer Product Safety Commission list of recalls for lead exposure hazard to date
