About a year ago major news networks ‘broke the story’ about toy manufacturers failing to prevent their imported toys from getting coated with paint which contained potentially dangerous amounts of lead. Many companies pulled the toys they knew about off the shelves immediately but what about the large number of older toys for which no one will step up and say for sure they do not have lead on or in them?

At the time that these stories hit the airwaves and headlined printed media all over the United States very few, if any, of the existing do-it-yourself lead in paint tests really and truly gave definitive answers without involving the use of expensive meters, dangerous chemicals or complex testing methods with large margins for error.

That all changed with the recent introduction of the LeadQUICK™ in Paint Home Visual Test Kit and we can best relay the groundbreaking details of the test by quoting the manufacturer:

LEADQuick™ Home Paint Kit — A new home based kit for screening lead levels in paint

Lead exposure can cause serious health problems, especially in young children. When lead is absorbed into the body, it can cause damage to the brain and other vital organs. The greatest concern is even “low level” lead exposure reduces children’s ability to learn. Lead-based paint becomes a hazard when it starts to wear, chip, or peel, or while it is being removed by sanding or stripping. In 1978 lead-based paint was banned in the United States but more than 80 percent of homes built before 1978 still contain lead. In most states a home seller must disclose their home was tested for lead.

Now it is easier to screen your home for leaded paint. Industrial Test Systems, Inc. is proud to announce the revolutionary new LEADQuick™ Home Paint Kit (487924-V). It’s an accurate, affordable, fast (results in 4 minutes) and easy to use visual home test kit for testing the EPA recommended maximum level of lead in paint (1 mg Lead per cm2). Unlike the popular swab method that only tests for lead only on the surface, the new LEADQuick™ Home Paint Kit uses a wedged paint chip that measures all paint layers for lead. The kit involves chemical reactions that produce a visible color change in the presence of lead compounds. LEADQuick™ Home Paint Kit has the following low levels of detection: 0.05, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0 and 1.2, mg/cm2. The kit includes 25 tests.

So whether you fear lead in your children’s toys or lead in the paint of your home, the new LEADQuick™ Home Paint Kit appears as though it will provide you with fast, accurate lead in paint test results.

Ivars Jaunakais, chief analytical chemist, founder and President of Industrial Test Systems, Inc. uncovered interesting data which suggested that lead comes from other sources and was able to prove his hypothesis by testing for the presence of lead in faucet aerators. He found that particulates which had accumulated in the nozzles and faucet aerators sometimes contained and, in turn, produced substantial amounts of lead far in excessive of the EPA’s 15ppb ruling for drinking water.

Older testing methods involved testing procedures best carried out in a laboratory setting. Through the use of groundbreaking LEADQuick^TM ReagentStrip & Reagent technology and the Hach’s already established LeadTrak^TM Pocket Colorimeter^TM II, Ivars greatly reduced the cost per test and total test times while making the test safer, simpler and easier to perform.

No longer do water samples have to get hauled back to a laboratory for analysis in order to get laboratory grade test results. Field samplers and field technicians can now safely and easily test for lead concentrations in water at a fraction of the cost and in a fraction of the time.

LEADQuick^TM Lead Test for the LeadTrak^TM Pocket Colorimeter^TM II

(More Information on Ivars’ New Lead Test Coming Soon!)

Anyone familiar with the Hach LeadTrak^TM Pocket Colorimeter^TM II knows how much time it takes to complete each test and how many different steps are involved in the procedure. While an excellent tool for determining the concentration of lead in water, its cumbersome procedures keep it from getting used as often as it should out in the field — until recently.

An article in the March 2008 Lab International magazine revealed that Ivars Jaunakais, President of Industrial Test Systems, Inc., has developed a new, faster and less tedious method for determining the concentration of lead in water using the Hach LeadTrak^TM Pocket Colorimeter^TM II. He calls it LEADQuick^TM.

Users of Ivars’ groundbreaking LEADQuick^TM can now obtain lead in water test results in under 5 minutes and the kit allows for accurate detection of lead in water concentrations as high as 700 ppb and as low as 1 ppb (+/-3ppb).

The United States Environmental Protection Agency set the MCL (Maximum Contaminant Level) for lead in water at 15 ppb so as you can see, this new methodology has more than enough range and precision to meet the needs of water professionals in pretty much any industry.

Another nice feature of the LEADQuick^TM reagent/reagentstrip test kit is its cost: Less than $3.00 USD per test, meter cost excluded.

Back in the day a lot of paint manufacturers pinched pennies by using ‘excessive’ quantities of lead in their paints. While this practice saved both the manufacturers and end users countless millions over the years, doctors and scientists have now linked exposure to lead-based paint products to elevated concentrations of lead in the blood of humans.

How did that much lead get into their bloodstream?

Example 1: Scientists and healthcare professionals speculate that some test subjects got their exposure to lead paint as children by playing with and/or eating paint chips found on the floor or on radiators and window sills.

Example 2: Scientists and healthcare professionals also speculate that others got their exposure to lead paint by working with lead-based paint products as adults.

In either case, ill effects of elevated lead levels manifested themselves in a number of test subjects so if you suspect lead paint on the walls and radiators of an old house, take a look at the Lead in Paint test.

It’s a fast, simple, and easy test which can help keep your friends and family safe from the potentially lethal effects of lead poisoning.

UPDATE: A new, accurate and easy-to-use at-home lead in paint test kit hit the market at the end of 2008. You can find information about the LeadQUICK™ in Paint Home Visual Test Kit on this page.