Unleaded at home

If the little ones got loads of brightly colored loot over the holidays, you might wonder if you should test the toys for lead before play time. After all those toy recalls last year, some concerned parents are trying home lead-testing kits.

These DIY packets contain chemical-coated swabs that you rub on a toy, and a color change is supposed to show if the item has dangerous levels of lead.

The kits are available at hardware stores and online for $8 to $30. Surely a reasonable price for your child's safety.

But how reliable are the results?

Consumer Reports tested several kits and found them able to detect lead on the surface of toys. Obviously, you're only swabbing the outside of the item, so you can't tell if there is lead deep inside it.

The home lead-test kits that Consumers Reports recommends gave "no false positives and no false negatives," according to an NPR article.

However, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) -- the group that recalls toys in the first place -- disagrees about those kits.

In the CPSC's evaluations, more than half of results from the home kits were false negatives and two were false positives. Plus, the CPSC notes that the home lead-test kits don't detect low levels of lead, which are over the regulatory maximum and can be harmful to children.

Even Canada agrees. Our neighbors to the north have also evaluated home lead-testing kits and found them inconsistent. The country's federal health department, Health Canada cautions against relying on the results from home kits.

Both the CPSC and Health Canada recommend simply removing suspect toys from your kid's reach and taking the child to a doctor immediately if you suspect lead poisoning.

Want to replace a questionable goodie in your kiddo's stash? Check out The Daily Green's huge list of lead-free toys. Many are made in the U.S.A. too.