Few dependable options for lead testing at home

There are few good options for parents who want to test their kids' jewelry and toys for lead.

Professional testing is the only way to get a definitive answer — but who wants to spend $15 to $50 per item? Tests that give total lead concentrations are destructive, requiring the surface be scraped, or an entire piece of jewelry dissolved in acid.

Home-testing kits, available in hardware stores, get mixed reviews.

Consumer Reports this month gave a limited endorsement to several of the kits, which generally use swabs that change color when exposed to lead.

The consumer group said the Homax Lead Check, Lead Check Household Lead Test Kit and Lead Inspector were mostly effective at detecting lead in paint or on other surfaces, though it could take up to two hours to get a positive reaction when lead concentrations are low. None of the tests was able to spot the toxic metal hiding under paint, plating or other surface coating.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission conducted 104 tests with the home kits, and found that more than half of the results were wrong — mostly false negatives that detected no lead when the metal was actually present.

— Sandi Doughton