| To help manufacturers adhere to new regulations intended to reduce the risk of lead poisoning in children, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) developed standard test samples of lead paint films of the sort sometimes found on children's products, as well as a guide to their use.
Manufacturers can use the new test—or "reference"—materials to demonstrate that their test methods yield accurate results when used to show compliance of products with the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CSPIA) of 2008. The law requires that paints used on children's products contain no more than 90 milligrams of lead per kilogram of paint.
Lead compounds were once widely used as pigments and durability agents in nearly all paint formulations. The use of lead ingredients is in decline as more alternatives become available and more regulations are brought to bear on the issue; however, lead can still occasionally be found in children's products.
The CSPIA requires that results be reported in terms of total mass per kilogram instead of by unit area, which the industry presently measures directly using handheld X-ray fluorescence instruments. Manufacturers can prove compliance using a standard test method developed by ASTM International (ASTM F2853) that calls for the use of multiple X-ray beams with different energies to determine accurately the mass of lead per kilogram of paint.
NIST researchers designed new Standard Reference Material (SRM) 2569 so it gives equally valid results when used with either of these measurement technologies. For more information and to purchase, please refer to https://www-s.nist.gov/srmors/view_detail.cfm?srm=2569.
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