WASHINGTON — Parents afraid of lead lurking on the surface of every Dora, Elmo or Curious George now have something else to worry about: whether their lead-testing kits work.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission said this week that such tests were “unreliable,” while Consumer Reports declared some lead-testing kits a “useful, though limited, screening tool.”
The CPSC said commonly available test kits didn’t detect lead when it was present or did when it wasn’t. None of the kits detected lead when it was covered with a nonlead coating.
“Based on the study, consumers should not use lead test kits to evaluate consumer products for potential lead hazards,” the agency concluded.
But the CPSC’s findings contradict a coming Consumer Reports study that tested five home lead-testing kits and concluded that three identified accessible lead in toys, ceramic dishware and vinyl or plastic.
CPSC spokeswoman Julie Vallese said she couldn’t comment on Consumer Reports without seeing the test results or knowing the methods.
Carolyn Clifford-Ferrara, senior director of product- safety operations for Consumer Reports, didn’t know why the CPSC tests produced a different outcome.
Ed Mierzwinski of U.S. PIRG, which publishes an annual survey of dangerous toys, staked out a middle ground, advising consumers to use a test kit as “one of your layers of defense against toxic hazards. But it shouldn’t be the only one.”
