September/October 2010 
Lead in Paint Layers
“Frequent testing of children’s products aids in identifying sources of lead contamination and ultimately prevents out-of-compliance merchandise from reaching store shelves,” says Berry Beumer, vice president, XOS Inc., and chairman of the task group that developed F2853. F2853 provides a convenient means to test for lead using the energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy technique. Such testing will ensure that toys and other children’s products will comply with laws (such as the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008) that are currently being enforced by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. According to Beumer, the HDXRF test described enables lead quantification separately for the substrate and paint level in a 5-minute measurement cycle. All interested parties are invited to join the task group responsible for F2853. “While the presence of lead has been of primary concern to industry, other harmful elements such as cadmium, arsenic and antimony are now also under scrutiny,” notes Beumer. “The task group is anticipating continued expansion of F2853 to include these and other elements in the standard. Additional interlaboratory studies will be required for the precision and bias statements for these elements, and the continued participation of third party test labs and toy and apparel manufacturers in such studies will be helpful in expanding the scope of F2853.” CONTACT Technical Information: Berry Beumer, XOS Inc., East Greenbush, N.Y. Phone: 518-880-1500, ext. 400 ASTM Staff: Brynn Murphy Phone: 610-832-9640 | |||||||
A new ASTM International standard provides the means to quickly detect and quantify the lead concentration in toys and other children’s products.