The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has issued a new standard operating procedure (SOP) for determining total lead content of paint, or a painted surface, on a dry paint basis. The new guidelines are based on recommendations submitted by a Toy Industry Association task group which included experts from several laboratories, including STR.

Test method CPSC-CH-E1003-09, published April 26, 2009, states that composite testing of like paints from several like parts or products is appropriate and may even be necessary to obtain valid analytical results. Composite testing of different paints (e.g. multiple colors from one or more samples to reduce the number of digestions and instrumental lead analyses performed) is also acceptable, but it must be done with adequate care, planning, and understanding to ensure that samples are not diluted such that excessive lead in one individual paint is not detected. The new SOP provides guidance on how to avoid inaccurate results and suggests that any composite testing of paints which yields a result that is greater than 80% of the limit for lead in paint be retested.

This method supersedes all previously published SOPs for lead in paint testing. The CPSC has concluded that this method is sufficient to make determinations of compliance with 16 CFR 1303 and the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. While the CPSC's testing laboratory uses this method, outside laboratories are not required to follow it. The CPSC notes that existing laboratory accreditations remain valid, and the rules for accreditation for lead paint testing for compliance with 16 CFR 1303 remain unchanged and do not explicitly require the use of this or any earlier SOP.

Link to Test Method: CPSC-CH-E1003-09, Standard Operating Procedure for Determining Lead (Pb) in Paint and Other Similar Surface Coatings.

012-05-09