Third Party Lead Testing

Testing your Products for Lead
Eastern Applied Research Inc. has been performing testing with x-ray fluorescence (XRF) since 1990.  We recently started offering our services to the public, smaller manufacturers and retailers to meet changing regulations in different industries.

Children’s Apparel and the Toy industry has recently become actively involved with using our services.  We offer a very competitive rate for testing their products and provide a quick turnaround time; typically 2-3 working days from the time we receive samples.  Eastern Applied also offers instrumentation and training allowing you to perform testing yourself but the costs to smaller organizations is prohibitive for many organizations affected by lead content regulations (specifically, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act; CPSIA).

How testing works:
You send us a representative sample of each of your product(s) with clear instructions of where you want the testing to be performed on each product.  A representative sample is usually one from each of the different products you have that will reflect the materials used on your entire inventory.  We will test the product in each location and supply a separate test report for each location indicating the Lead content of that sample area.

How do you begin:
Contact Eastern Applied Research at 716-201-1115 for details on the third party testing services and to discuss your testing requirements.

Frequently Asked Questions:

1)  What should be tested on my products?
Answer – Everything should be tested on your products.  If it is intended to be used by a child under the age of 12, every component needs to be tested. (e.g.: Elastic bands, ink , thread, buttons, “jewels”, strings, plastic ends of shoe strings, different material on the same item, clips, ribbons (of every color) , dyes etc.)

2) Should I test the raw material or the finished goods?
Answer - You should have both the raw material and the finished product tested.  The CPSC stated finished goods and to use reasonable test methods.  Reasonable test methods to us are considered to be the raw materials.  Some finished products may be good assurance.

3)  Can liquid Ink or dye be tested?
Answer - Yes

4) Do we test for Phthalates?
Answer - No, XRF methods cannot test for this. However phthalates are used mostly in PVC materials. We can test for the Chlorine in PVC, if the tests show negative Chlorine, then there is no PVC and you may be able to assume no Phthalates.

5) How big of any area is tested during an XRF measurement?
Answer - About .080 of an inch in diameter of an area is needed to be sampled.

6)  Will my products be harmed?
Answer - No, XRF is a non-destructive testing technology so your samples can be returned, sold or used after being tested.

7) How many measurements do you take?
Answer - You the customer must determine that. We suggest that for every different material, ink, color, dye, button, metal, stone, elastic, zipper, Velcro, threads of a variety of colors, etc. be tested