Testing Paint, Soil & Dust

You can determine whether lead is in paint, soil or dust in three ways:

• Spot Test Kit: A spot test kit contains chemicals that immediately changes color when it contacts lead. The most common is LeadCheck Swab. It is available at most good hardware stores. The results are not “official” and must be confirmed by laboratory analysis or, if paint, an XRF. But the kits are an effective low-cost tool to check your work before investing in the “official” results.

• Laboratory analysis. Right now, only an laboratory that is “NLLAP-Approved” can provide “official” answers for soil samples or dust wipe samples. Labs can also be used for paint chips analysis. The samples cost about $10 each and take several days. You have to pay more for a quicker turnaround time. See www.epa.gov/lead/nllap.htm.

• X-Ray Florescence Device: XRFs emit radiation and measure what gets bounced back to a sensor. The results are almost immediate. EPA has approved XRFs to determine if paint is lead-based paint. EPA’s research shows that they are good at measuring dust levels and probably soil levels, but EPA’s regulations prevent the XRF from be used to provide “official” results.