LeadCheck Swabs, Instant Lead Test, 8-Pack

Really helped me find the source of my son's lead poisoning. First, it was fairly easy to use - squeeze the shaft at point A and B hard enough to crack the glass inside and release the chemicals, then squeeze until drops of liquid come out and rub the end around on the surface you want to test. It's not perfect - it can only test the surface of materials, etc. If you need a real test then get a lead abatement contractor or have a company come test with an XRF machine. But for quick home tests and material that may have lead on the surface, this was invaluable. I was able to test several surfaces and even identified one or two objects that the CDC had missed on their sweep of my home looking for my son's lead poisoning. See photos - the various shades of brown and orange are negative swabs, and the pink is positive. One of my positive pictures is from the control test strip, which has a tiny amount of lead (hence the warning on the package). The others were of the source of my son's lead poisoning - from swabbing the stone on our patio / walkway (which the CDC does not routinely test). Turns out some sealants used on walkways can be contaminated with lead (done by a previous owner)! The patio that was not treated tested negative. I'm super happy with this product, and bought a second box to have on hand. The only downside is the price - quite expensive, but I guess all lead check sticks are unfortunately.

Super easy to use, press in 2 spots and shake to activate. Similar thickness a little thicker than a pen or pencil so they are easy to grip. Results are fast and hopefully accurate. I’d say they are a good value for the money but when it comes to lead detection how can you put a price on you family’s safety. I have tested rugs, paint and bare wood and found lead in places I didn’t expect it. Cracked paint tested positive due to lead in the wood underneath from the original paint.

These work well enough. You will pay $25 at your local hardware store for a 2-pack of the same thing, so this is a good deal. If you suspect the presence of lead paint in your home, do not expect this to be the only thing you buy. This is your initial test. The instructions are pretty clear and straightforward. Break, shake, swab. It can be a little tricky and you will probably waste one of them trying to figure it out but whatever they're cheap compared to the hardware store ones. This kit is to test the presence of EXPOSED lead. If you have lead paint on your wall but it is safely painted over by certified interim controls, or really just you rolling some paint (or a previous tenant/owner), it will most likely not detect this. Although I did not see it in the description, I was able to test several areas of dust and get a result back (positive). I tested and re-tested areas in duplicate to make sure that I was not receiving false-positives and the results were consistent. We suspected lead in a few areas being exposed, namely old wooden window sills. This allowed me to focus our efforts on containing certain areas and it will not help you rest easier at night if you're already freaked out about lead exposed but it will at least tell you that your freak out is justified. Again this is not the last thing you will deal with if you suspect lead and you will need to hire a professional inspector to come through and do an entire wall-to-wall-to-window inspection of your property. But before you fork over $450 (our cost for a 2bd/1ba apartment) for the inspection, at least get some swabs to make sure you've got a definite reason to do so. My only complaint (or tip?) is to not go crazy when breaking the glass vials. It might feel like it's not completely broken, but it is. I actually had one break and start leaking the fluid through the casing so that one went in the trash. They basically work like those plastic glowsticks. You break a glass vial on each end and shake together.

Works great. I was helping a friend with some painting on an old house that had additions added at 3-4 different times. This test clearly showed which parts of the house had lead paint and which ones were lead free. We took scrapings of the paint from different areas, ground them up by putting them in a baggie and pounding with a hammer on a piece of concrete, and then rubbing the swab in the powder. The paint from the oldest part of the house turned the swab bright pink. The paint from the addition that we were working on didn't show a color change. Very distinctive, unambiguous result. The reason we took scrapings and ground them up was to be sure that we weren't getting a false negative from a surface layer of new acrylic paint over older lead-based paint. Just be sure when you do the grinding that you don't breathe any dust or use any utensils that will be later used for food or handled by children. Wash your hands and tools afterward.

Crush "A", Crush "B", Shake downward twice and swab it. Pretty simple... Go ahead and expose a layer of old paint using a paint scraper. Swabbing a layer of latex over lead will not give you an accurate reading. I like to start with a "control" area of latex. When applied to the latex, the tip will appear yellow. Now move on to your test area. On the side of my 1920 home, the weather has caused most of the lead paint to flake off. I scraped and tested a smooth area, that represents what most of my siding in that area looked like. I avoided scraping and testing those huge flakes that were still holding on, because I knew for certain they were the oldest and would contain lead. Swab the area area, pink or red will indicate a positive result for lead. On the side of my house, I would get "pink" results. I bagged the tester and it eventually turned deep red. On the front of my home, the paint was extremely thick and looked like alligator skin. The front porch protected the paint from the weather. I tested these heavy areas and the tester instantly turned red and stained the pine siding. All of my tester worked as expected. I will use this for my own piece of mind in the future.

I bought these to see if I had lead paint on my house which was built in the 70's. They work under ideal conditions, but for the average user, the results will not be accurate. Each swab is a plastic tube with two glass vials inside. A paper outer tube covers the plastic for safety. You squeeze the tube to break the glass vials; they break easily with no undue effort. After shaking to mix the two liquids, you squeeze it a bit so that the liquid comes out the swab end. Then you rub it on the thing that you're testing. The whole process is simple and quick. You do need to prepare the test surface. For example, stucco needs to be scratched / notched to expose all the underlying layers, and to break through any water resistant outer layers. A small piece of paper with control samples is included. When I tested a control, it turned the swab a very faint pink. So it worked, but only barely. When I tested on control surfaces that contained NO lead, I got positive results on several of them. On control surfaces with lead, I got ranges from faint pink to bright pink. In short, these err on the side of indicating lead. The chemicals in this product react to lead, but not *only* lead. Of course I had red paint that I needed to test, but I could not get conclusive results. Bottom line, if you rub these all over everything and get no pink, you probably do not have lead. But if you get pink, you may or may not have lead. If you really have a concern, these are not what you want - call a remediation company to test it with real equipment, which would include something like a x-ray fluorescence analyzer.

Expensive but useful. I’m not just using this to look at my home’s construction, but to detect lead in household items. Some surprises: A negative swatch can turn positive in eight hours when left to dry on leaded ceramic tile and bathtubs. What a disappointment to know that in newer houses they are still using leaded products in bathrooms! Good to know for renovations. Swiped negative on brass door hinge, which should have enough lead to detect. Swiped positive on some dust particles! We are now a shoes at the door house. Swiped positive on munitions shell, as expected. Turned dark red on stained glass, as expected. Swiped negative on wall paint and positive on galvanized strip under exposed drywall, as expected. Swiped negative on silver metal kitchen pulls, I am trusting this result. Swiped negative on vintage picture frame made of plaster, brass paint or gilding (metal) and clay - not sure, may want to retest. Pro tip: You can get more tests by squeezing the contents into a glass measuring cup with four q tips and using immediately. Cons: sometimes turns an intense orange which can be difficult to distinguish from red. Appeared to turn red on a golden part of a “vegetable dyed” wool oriental rug (lead oxide?) but not on the swab itself, unable to confirm results. In the meantime this goes away from kids. Sometimes the stick itself will stay negative while the liquid on the test item will change. Off label uses may not always be accurate May not detect on all metals, may be slow or non detect on ceramics. Orange glow juice may be annoying to remove after testing

NONE of the 8 swabs in my package produced a yellow liquid upon activation as the instructions said they would. 3 of the swabs produced a dark brownish orange liquid before I even touched them to the surface to be tested. 4 of the swabs produced an orange liquid, and 1 swab produced no liquid. The swabs are formulated to turn pink or red after 30 seconds of rubbing on a surface that contains lead. Obviously you can't test a surface for lead if the tester swab produces orange or dark brownish orange liquid to begin with. Tester cards are provided, with white dots that DO contain lead, to be sure you used the swab correctly. The swabs containing orange liquid turned the lead dots a darker orange than the original liquid. The swabs containing dark brownish orange liquid turned the lead dots a bright orange-brown. The swabs contain a hazardous chemical with a cancer and birth defect warning, and a warning to avoid skin or eye contact, or breathing it. So I did this in the garage wearing glasses, snug fitting disposable gloves, and a thin fabric face mask. Disappointing waste of time and money. And I still don't know whether my items contain lead... my good name brand ceramic dishes and mugs made in China (supposedly lead-free these days but I wanted to be sure) and several ceramic bowls and mugs hand made by artists in the US claiming to be lead free (how do I know the glazes weren't imported and contain lead?). I read that ceramics from Mexico, Italy, China and other countries have been found to contain lead, especially "decorative" pieces, as well as older ceramics made in the US before the lead laws... and a few US recalls after the lead laws. Hot foods / liquids absorb more lead than cold ones do if lead is present. Nicks and scratches expose more lead if lead is present. Solid white ceramics are safer and less likely to contain lead. Lead-free is important especially if you're using them on a daily basis, especially for kids ("BPA Free" plastic is Not a good substitute - it contains BPS which some experts say may be worse, and here again, hot foods/ hot liquids absorb more plastic chemicals. This includes "microwave safe" plastic - it's only safe for the plastic to prevent warping or melting, not safe for you accumulating more chemicals over time.)

i bought these twice. first seller shipped quite quickly. 2nd seller took more time, the package was 1 day past expected delivery, but that's fine. note that these are designed to work on paint - for anything else you test you can trust the positives, but not the negatives. i have successfully used these swabs on jewelry, paint tubes, old brass items, ceramics, and furniture. the swabs usually won't work on things like crock pots or tiles. pro tip: you can extend the use of each swab quite a bit by squeezing a drop or two of the liquid onto an item directly (do not touch with the tip of swab) or onto a clean qtip and then swabbing with that.

der Bleitest hat bestens funktioniert. Für das beruhigende Gefühl ist es mir wert, obwohl der Gesamtproduktpreis recht teuer ist. Kommt u.a. durch Zoll und Versand; das testest ist daher fast doppelt so teuer wie in der USA. Ich kann es weiter empfehlen.

Saw mixed reviews about this product so was quite sceptical, especially with such negative reviews on similar products. The order arrived next day (UK) with Prime. The test was easy to use; break the cartridge in the marked areas, shake and squeeze, then apply. I applied the amber liquid to a few areas with scratched off paint using a single cartridge - there was some colour change instantly but after leaving it for 5 minutes the result was obvious. I also tested on card and the liquid stayed amber. The 2 test cards have 4 tests areas each to verify that the pen works. Again the circle turned red and the area around it stayed amber so I’m happy that the tests worked as promised. I obviously don’t know how much lead was in the outdoor paint that I tested - I’ve read that outdoor paints contained a higher percentage than indoor. I therefore can’t verify accuracy with a smaller concentration of lead, but for my use case the test told me what I needed to know and I would definitely recommend them as a starting point. Given that I could reuse the test in multiple places, they seem to work accurately, and the results were so quick - I strongly believe that these are great value for money at £37. I’d been quoted £300 for testing 6 samples by a UK lead testing lab so it’s a big difference.

Working well

This is a lead test which contains lead!