Test Lead Kit
What is being done to protect our children from lead in/on toys?
How can we be safe? What products have lead that havent been recalled? Is my baby putting lead in her mouth at this very moment without me knowing? How can I tell. I bought a lead test kit, but I dont believe it it shows me correct/accurate results. They should have a stand at the mall that after you purchase a toy you can have it tested fo rlead and if it comes up positive it gets reported and you can go straight back to the store and get a refund, dont ya think?
There are a few reasons why you won't find kiosks in the mall that will check the lead content in toys (or anything else for that matter).
First, detecting lead in something, toy or not, is a profession that carries a ton of liability. Often toys are not the subject, usually it is lead paint in a house or other kind of property. If the inspection claimed to find leaded paint when there wasn't, then costly lead mitigation would have been needlessly spent. Instant law suit.
If there were claims that the paint was not leaded when it really was, it leaves the inspector open for negligence. The moment somebody gets sick, regardless what the cause was, they'd sue hoping to get lucky. And there really are people fishing for money from anyone whom they can. The expense for legal defense is obscene.
So throw on top of that the fact that getting an inspection usually costs hundreds of dollars to get a licensed inspector to do the job. So finding some kiosk in the mall doing free lead checks would be like finding a lawyer giving legal advice for free.
And as lawyers make their living charging for their services, so do lead inspectors. And having a lead inspector would threaten any store that sells toys because the moment that the inspector gets a "positive" find, the store is screwed from selling their products and they've got to send them back to the manufacturer. That won't spell a law suit, but it does spell a lost profit and they'd complain to the mall about the kiosk ruining their business. The store pays more in rent than a kiosk does, so I'd guess that the mall managment would tell the kiosk to pack up and leave.
What you *can* do, is to find a laboratory that can perform lead analysis. They are listed in the yellow pages. There are two main types of analysis performed that will detect lead, an XRF (X-Ray Flourescence) and an AFS (Atomic Flame Spectroscopy). The former involves a device that's about the size of a bread box and you put this device up against a wall (or surface) that you want to analyze for lead. The results are in seconds. The latter test requires submitting a sample and waiting at least a few hours.
Performing either at the lab's location is very reasonably affordable (tens of dollars compared to hundreds). I'd suggest scraping paint off of all the suspect toys (any given toy may have more than one color of paint, which means more samples) and submitting each paint sample for AFS analysis. The turn-around-time varies. It costs more depending on how quick you want it, so allow for a 3 or 5-day turn-around time unless you're desperate. But you'll pay up the nose for a turn-around-time in less than 24 hrs.
Those kits from Home Depot suck. I tried them too and I couldn't tell diddley. I got an XRF from work and really found where there is/isn't lead. Until the FTC gets it's act together and inspects incomming toys, the only real effective measure is to ban toys from certain places, without exception. But this requires the White House in having some balls (which I highly doubt, and I don't have faith in any of our potential presidents either). So I suggest getting them tested yourself and getting ready to write companies angry letters w/ lab results enclosed.
A look at what is currently available on eBay
 NEW Test Lead Kit Alligator Hook Set with Banana Plug US $3.49 
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 NEW Test Hook Clip Set for Multimeter Lead Wire Kit US $2.99
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 HOME LEAD TEST KIT for Toys, Lunch Boxes, Water 8 Pk! US $14.99
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 PRO LABS LEAD IN WATER TEST KIT LW107 US $10.47
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 TEST LEAD STARTER KIT12 PIECES BNC ALLIGATOR BANANA PROBES US $39.95
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 HP/Agilent 34132-37901 Deluxe Test Lead Kit (NEW) 34132A US $25.00
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