Don’t Panic — these Lead test kits DO. NOT. WORK. for testing consumer goods (you might as well tear-up your money and throw it in the trash)
For those new to the Lead Safe Mama website:
Tamara Rubin is a multiple-federal-award-winning independent advocate for childhood Lead poisoning prevention and consumer goods safety, and a documentary filmmaker. She is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children (two of her four sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005).
- Tamara owns and runs Lead Safe Mama, LLC — a unique community collaborative woman-owned small business for childhood Lead poisoning prevention and consumer goods safety.
- Since 2009, Tamara has been conducting XRF testing (a scientific testing method) using the exact instrumentation employed by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to test consumer goods for toxicants (specifically heavy metals — including Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, Antimony, and Arsenic).
- Since July of 2022, the work of Lead Safe Mama, LLC has been responsible for 5 product recalls (FDA and CPSC).
- All test results reported on this website are science-based, accurate, and replicable.
- Items that Lead Safe Mama, LLC reports on are tested multiple times to confirm the results published (for each component tested).
- Recent Notable Press: Tamara’s work was featured in Consumer Reports Magazine in February 2023 (March 2023 print edition) and The Guardian in November 2023.
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January 6, 2023
Last Updated: September 13, 2023
In Summary: None of these types of products (reactive agent home test kits that purport to turn red in the presence of Lead) can be reliably used for testing consumer goods for Lead.
- The Chinese-branded knockoffs (the image above is an example of one type of the knock off product) should not be used for ANY Lead testing at all.
- Lead Safe Mama, LLC’s current choice for Lead-paint testing (for homeowners/ tenants, etc.) is the Scitus brand product (Scitus is the original, USA-made product that Chinese companies “knocked off” to make the above pictured product).
I have written this piece because parents everywhere have (for more than three years now) been contacting me in a panic — because something they bought for their children (something they were certain was Lead-free), has allegedly “tested ‘positive’ for Lead” with the knock-off swabs (swabs which they chose to purchase simply because they were the less expensive option on Amazon,)
To learn more about using the Scitus-brand kits, watch this video.
Important points to note:
- False Positives: These off-brand home test kits for Lead (which are marketed for testing consumer goods even though they do not work for that purpose) give false positives on many, many substrates, including several different types of metal substrates like (specifically but not limited to) Zinc — and possibly also Copper.
- Because of the frequency of false-positives, these off-brand kits have zero reliability for testing consumer goods — especially (again) given the widespread panic and misinformation spread on social media (including in parenting groups and on parenting-related pages) that seems to accompany many of the false positives found. Some specific examples:
- Parents tested a crane toy with one of these tests — link — and thought it was positive for unsafe Levels of Lead, when in fact it has zero Lead in any components.
- Another example is the Kyte Baby sleep sack fiasco that unfolded on TikTok in February of 2023 (the original videos were taken down once the creator realized the test kit was faulty, but some of the quotes from that video can still be found)!
- We also frequently see posts on social media in which the poster suggests that these swabs tested positive simply from touching WATER or white PAPER!
- One Common “False Positive” Scenario: If a painted item has a Zinc substrate, such as a zipper coated with Titanium Dioxide-based paint — as many zippers are — using one of these tests might result in a false positive from the exposed Zinc substrate on that item (areas of the zipper where the paint has chipped). So the consumer doing the testing may wrongly assume that the surface paint of the item tested is positive for unsafe levels of Lead (this is what happened with the Kyte Baby sleep sack zipper testing).
- False Negatives: These home test kits also often result in false negatives on many consumer goods — including dishes and vintage toys.
- This is the case with all reactive agent home test kits (for most consumer goods). These test kits were simply not designed to test consumer goods.
- False negatives can happen when the item being tested is positive for Lead, but positive for Lead at a level below the 500 ppm low-threshold of detection of the home test kit.
- False negatives can also happen when the chemical agent does not react with certain substrates (base-materials) even though the substrate is positive for Lead. We have seen this happen with Leaded-brass, high-fire ceramics and Lead-contaminated plastics.
- Within the realm of “False Negative” considerations – even if these kits DO work to detect the presence (or absence) of Lead, they are not testing for other toxic heavy metals (Arsenic, Cadmium, Antimony and Mercury – for example), so even though items tested may legitimately test negative for Lead with a home test kit, that does not automatically mean the item is safe.
- Designed for use with PAINT: Reactive-agent Lead-testing technology was designed to be used for/ is only meant to be used for testing for Lead in House Paint (to determine if the paint on homes is Lead-based paint).
- Again, these kits were not designed to test consumer goods.
- Their use should be restricted to testing house paint for Lead.
- The off-brand / knock-off (non-Scitus-brands) products should not be used under any circumstances.
- “Better Than Nothing?” Some Lead Safe Mama readers have asked, “But aren’t these home test kits better than nothing — for testing consumer goods?”
- My answer to this is: these tests are decidedly not better than nothing for testing consumer goods, given that the false positives AND false negatives are causing too much panic and misinformation among the people who use the kits … and the people who follow those people on social media! (The false information can spread very quickly, causing quite a bit of unwarranted alarm, and also potentially damaging companies who are actually producing Lead-free products that erroneously test positive with these faulty kits.)
- In response to the work of Lead Safe Mama, LLC, the company that manufactures the Scitus-brand kit worked on reformulating their products so that they work a bit better than they initially did.
- These kits have a low-threshold of detection of 500 parts per million (ppm), which is similar to the low threshold of detection of the discontinued 3M test kits.
- Toys and other consumer goods are unsafe for children at 90 ppm Lead and up – so these cannot be used to test for lead in toys (they may also give false positives on toys).
- Lead Safe Mama, LLC helped Scitus re-work the language in their packaging and in their online marketing to make it more clear that these home test kits should only be used to test for Lead in paint.
Amazon Links are affiliate links. If you purchase something after clicking on one of these links, we may receive a percentage of what you spend at no extra cost to you. Please don’t buy the faulty test kits, tho!
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Thank you for the warning on these. I had used these around my house. It turned color on our door knobs. I was quite upset and replaced most of them. Then saw this post, bought the 3M tests and retested. The 3M ones did not change color at all. Sounds like this common problem false positives? Will make sure to use only 3M going forward.
These tests contain sodium rhodizonate which reacts with many bivalent metals and forms various colored complexes. This is the same chemical the police often use to detect gunshot residue which has lead. [There are other tests for gunshot residue that detect nitrites. A paper by Feigl 1942 – Analytical Uses of Sodium Rhodizonate has a table of the various colors that may be obtained for different metals and how they change under neutral and acidic conditions. [I can send a copy if you’d like]. Often the variation in color in neutral vs acidic conditions will be helpful to distinguish between lead and Zinc. For example, these are expected to give brown-violet color when detecting zinc under neutral conditions (water) but no color under acidic conditions ( e.g. vinegar or HCl). Lead should test blue violet under neutral conditions and scarlet under acidic conditions. Cadmium should test brown red under all conditions. The colors are not easy to determine though because they look quite alike. And the testing of alloys becomes complicated. I tested something with a strong suspicion for lead and it turned blue-violet even with vinegar.
Interestingly, while wetting one of these the water dripped onto a bowl which quickly turned bright pink so I was convinced the crockery had lead. But plastic tupperware also tested positive and so did a glass jar. While it is possible that all of them have lead, it is quite unlikely. (I haven’t tested the Ikea plates that you showed had no lead, that will be interesting). Our water should not have lead as we had the lead pipes removed and our water has high mineral content – when the plumbers showed us the old lead pipes they were so thickly coated by calcium carbonate (?) that the pipe hole had halved. Then I sprayed the pink water with vinegar and the color completely disappeared instead of becoming scarlet or more intense indicating it was not lead in the first place. The reason why the color would become more intense is because Pb becomes more reactive in an acidic solution (ions).
While I do agree that these could create panic, people outside of the US do not have access to 3M tests and 3M tests are also designed only for paint. And pretty much nobody has access to an XRF instrument. I wish I could post the table here but happy to provide it so you can post it in case people continue using them for lack of any other options.
It did show that the paint in my room did not have lead (painted a couple of years before the UK banned lead paint but likely at a time when it was already being phased out). It did not show lead in older paint in an 100 year old house but I only swabbed around cracks and did not grind the paint etc. so it’s very possible that user error gave a false negative.
Tamara, thank you for the wonderful work that you do! I have learned a lot from you.
Aya
Thank you for sharing this! Please do email me the table: TamaraRubin@mac.com
I think you’re about to get more emails about the air fryer TikTok going around! https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTN6SmukL/
Thanks for these details. My lead test swabs left a yellow residue (i.e. negative) in the collection dish, which turned alarmingly magenta with the addition of tap water. Following your hint I acidified with vinegar and the magenta immediately reverted to yellow, so I guess we have zinc
Hi Aya,
Could you please send me the table? I have tried to find it & cannot access it.
This would be hugely helpful to me.
Thank you,
Jo Edwards
can you tell me if the French White Corningware round casserole dishes prior to year 2000 have lead? and the Thomas train roundhouse set with various cars prior to 2003 have lead? I bought it to keep my 2 year old busy while pregnant! Wash hoping to keep for grandchild.
Would these work for testing for lead in paint in a house? The 3M tests seem to be sold out everywhere.
3m seems to be having a huge shortage of their tests. What are your thoughts on these? Pro-Lab Lead Surface Test Kit
PRO-LAB Lead Surface Do It Yourself DIY Test Kit LS104 https://amzn.to/442qmX1
These are not at all accurate (to my knowledge) – especially not down to 5 ppm Lead.
t
Hello, I am very nervous because by chance (crawling with my baby) I spotted remainings of white paint on my reclaimed wood (old mill) table, underneath it. I tested it with the kit you don’t recommend (trying to get hold off the 3M). In two places the (white) paint turned pink. Would you still think there’s fair chance it is a false positive? Thank you very much.
Hello. I just reviewed the technical report on the 3M Lead Check test kits and was surprised to see that the false positive rate for a non-technical user is 98 percent. (P 23) . Even a technical operator gets 75% false positives. There is a table later in the report that appears to show that even of the lead level is zeeo, the test will come out positive 40% of the time. Am. Understanding this correctly and what are your thoughts about the high false positive rate? https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/documents/3M-leadcheck-report.pdf
That is fundamentally industry-influenced propaganda. It is a subject I need to break down and discuss in detail. The “propaganda” stems primarily from the fact that they are considering positives for Lead levels above 600 ppm (but below 5,000 ppm) “false positives” when the test was actually originally designed to test for levels of 600 ppm and up (because the 1978 law limited lead in paint to 600 ppm.)
T
Hello Lead Safe Mama!
is the “3M™ 8 Swab LeadCheck™ White, Red And Black Kit” accurate for testing ceramics and glassware? I am
cleaning out vintage glassware from my family home’s attic and wondering if a vintage tea set with a luster orange finish is safe to use. This kit is supposedly accurate for not only paint but ceramic.
Thank you!
sincerely,
MJ
Hello! They really are not accurate for most consumer goods -read this for context:
https://tamararubin.com/2017/02/ask-tamara-q-can-i-test-my-dishes-for-lead-with-a-leadcheck-swab-a-sometimes-but-not-always-click-to-read-more/
Tamara
Thank you for the info
I didn’t buy these I bought for Amazon another brand as the 3M are discontinued now. Anyway I’m in the UK and hoping a galvanized magnetic board geared at kids is safe but feel like thats all it is hope
I really want to test antiques in my home. What can I buy to test consumer goods that isn’t a knock off? I’m concerned as my toddlers lead levels in her blood weren’t alarming, but present.
What suggestions do you have for testing your own mugs and other things that aren’t paint? I’ve been searching everywhere and no luck.
Hi there,
I’m looking into the faults of these Chinese tests after having been exposed through my life & have both my children exposed too. I would like a copy of the paper by Feigl 1942 – Analytical Uses of Sodium Rhodizonate.
Please please. Thank you so much.
Hi Lead Safe Mama, Could you please send the Feigl paper as above , this would be so useful for some research I am doing & I cannot gain access to the report myself. Please.
Hi. Thanks for this! I just used the Scitus test swabs on a 1950’s desk i got at Goodwill that I am thinking of refinishing. They turned brown, not red…the desk looks like it was shellacked, not painted, but might have some stain. I can’t tell if the brown is just shellac coming off on the swab, or a change of color indicating rust. I know you aren’t an expert, but in your experience with these test swabs, have you seen them turn brown and have that not be lead? Thanks!
Happy to send the article if you leave an email address. It can’t be attached here unfortunately.
Aya
Hi Aya – did you send it to me when you originally posted? If so, I will look for it and post it as a link. If not, if you could send it today I will post it today as well. Thank you! TamaraRubin AT Mac dot com 🙂
Hi Tamara, thanks as usual for all the information. I came across a website [link removed]- they sell lead detection kits there. Do you have any experience with those kits and whether they are suitable for testing consumer products?
They do not work on testing consumer products in my experiences. These types of kits give a lot of false negatives – even on consumer goods that test positive for very high levels of Lead.
T
Thank you, Tamara. I understand that it is an issue with the design of the kits rather than individual kits. then. That’s helpful.
My baby just tested for high but not alarmingly high levels of lead at the 12 month visit. We live in new construction, and he goes to a daycare where his sister also attended with no issues a year prior. We are trying to figure out where he could have come in contact with lead. He is crawling and almost never in the dirt/grass outside. Is there a way to try and find out what has lead, since the cheap Chinese lead based tests we bought are a bad option? We have no clue where it could have come from other than toys or something in the house. We were hoping to swab a lot of items to see, but upon seeing your post it seems like we may not have many options.
His crib is stained and not painted (and he has not yet started to bite it)
Hi, I’ve been a long time reader and wanted to say thank you for all you do! Your articles have been a huge help in phasing out all the toxic stuff I didn’t even know I had. I’d been wondering about these swab tests, it’s so frustrating not having an affordable home test option, I’ve been seeing a kit advertise online where you spray a solution and the item will turn green with a light if it’s contaminated, do you think those are accurate at all?
You advocate the Scitus test which is threshold 5oo ppm.
The same company has a newer product. What do you think of this test? Is the sensitivity of this test better than the 500 ppm.
The problem with the 500 ppm, which is the EPA theshold, is that some people lower concentration of lead could still be harmful, so there is advantage to get down toward 90 ppm or better.
Hi Tim,
I recommend the Scitus kit for Lead-paint testing (not for consumer goods testing.)
I have not yet had the opportunity to work with their new product in conjunction with comparative (quantitative) XRF testing.
I have a sample of the product to work with and intend to be experimenting with it once I have my XRF instrument back in hand (mid-June 2024).
I have worked with the original glowing test kit (Lumetallix – out of the Netherlands) and have found some significant limitations with that type of testing, primarily there is a concern for persistent false-negative results on some types of consumer goods with extremely high levels of Lead.
I expect the kit you are referencing will likely have similar limitations and should also not be recommended for use on consumer goods given the potential impact of persistent false negatives in the presence of even very high levels of Lead.
If you would like to see what I am referring to (some videos demonstrating the false negatives), I encourage you to check out some of the recently posted videos on the Lead Safe Mama Youtube channel. Here’s the link for our YouTube channel (which currently has 181 total videos – most of which discuss [or demonstrate] consumer goods testing using various testing methodologies): https://www.youtube.com/@LeadSafeMama/videos
Tamara
I just swabbed my bathtub with one of these and it turned positive right away. To the point where I panicked and call my child’s doctor and want my whole house evaluated by a professional. I just came across this article and it seems like there is a chance this could be a false positive? However my house was built in 1970 so I’m still concerned about the tub. How should I test that?
Hi,
I’m aware the test swabs for paint aren’t reliable for testing for lead in the cup (or parts of the cup) itself, but what I want to know is whether any lead is leeching into the water in the cup. Would the water test kits commonly sold in hardware stores be suitable for this? They look a bit like a pH strip, with a bunch of squares on them for detecting various elements and chemicals. Many have a detector square for lead. I figure if it’s good enough for testing your pipes it should probably be good for testing your water bottles too. Your thoughts?
I used Scitus to swab metal bolts in my daughter’s learning tower and pikler triangle and both came back positive. Should I consider the results unreliable since the tests are for paint only?
These do not work for consumer goods – they are designed to work on paint. They can give false positives on consumer goods.
Thank you for this! Is there any you’d recommend to use to test on consumer goods?
Are you familiar with [redacted] I have not found information on it’s accuracy. It claims to test lead in consumer goods and I would like to know if it is accurate before purchasing.
Thank you
Hello – my understanding is that the company you are asking about is under investigation by the FDA for fraudulent products – and they may also be involved with an international patent violation dispute.
T
Thank you Tamara,
Is there a similar product you can recommend for consumer goods?