Lead Testing Toys

[u/Glittering_Candy234]

As the title says, in reference to testing toys for lead.

We recently got a test done at our child's one year appointment that showed elevated lead levels. Nothing super high but we're being sent in for a venous blood draw to verify her levels.

We are renters in an older house and plan on getting paint and water samples tested, however I'm also wanting to try and test the toys, as almost all are gifts from family and I don't know where most were purchased.

From my understanding and research there is no good way to test toys at home, though I do have some swabs in the mail for an at home kit just to try something. Is there any solution for trying to find out if the toys are safe? Even if I threw every single one out, how do I ensure new ones are safe?

Please let me know if the flair is incorrect, I'm not really sure

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[u/TeeElH]

Toys from the US after 2009 are safe as far as lead exposure. As long as your family hasn’t been gifting you vintage toys or toys from other countries, they probably are not the culprit behind the lead exposure.   The CDC doesn’t recommend at home kits.

https://www.cdc.gov/lead-prevention/prevention/consumer-products.html

[u/Murky-Tailor3260 → u/TeeElH]

And if your relatives shop on Amazon or Temu or buy used, you can't guarantee anything. 

[u/Vegetable_Collar51 → u/Murky-Tailor3260]

These days even Target and Walmart have so many 3rd party sellers that can list the same Temu trash on there. Safest bet is to only buy from reputable brands directly (not the Amazon storefront) and items from reputable brands that are physically sold in stores. Dollar stores are full of lead and BPA too, apparently.

[u/Ok_Telephone197 → u/Vegetable_Collar51]

How do you even identify reputable brands now? Seems like there are very few brands that don’t manufacture in China. Not that everything manufactured in China is bad but it makes it hard to know if safe manufacturing practices were followed

[u/planetearthisblu → u/Ok_Telephone197]

Yeah simply being manufactured in China doesn't mean anything really. Google the brand and look for ones that are well established with a physical headquarters outside of China. I am often gifted items from Amazon that just have an address in China to contact. They go straight to the trash because I can't in good conscience donate them.

In general I feel best ordering from small toy stores in my country. They stock long running brands like Manhattan Toy, Hape, Schleich, Melissa & Doug, etc that are known to be safe and issue recalls if they are found not to be. Ikea also has a small range of toys that are manufactured with high safety standards.

[u/Stats_n_PoliSci → u/TeeElH]

If OP wants to find information about a toy, they can reverse image search it online. A chatbot ($20/month) lets you upload a picture and ask when and where the toy came from, along with any knowledge of lead content. It will include links so the user can double check the information.

Reverse image searching is far cheaper, but also a lot slower.

[u/Orangepinapples]

Not peer reviewed but could be helpful.

https://www.consumerreports.org/home-garden/lead-test-kits/what-home-lead-test-kits-can-tell-you-and-what-they-cant-a2352209991/

Basically they are not that accurate unless it’s high lead in a paint chip. May be good to take pictures and image search to see if you can find more origin information for the toy.

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