Buzzword: XRF

What it means. XRF is not the name of hipster rock band or a new "miracle" diet pill. Rather, this abbreviation stands for x-ray fluorescence, a technique used to detect the presence of elements like lead, cadmium, and arsenic in toys, paints, and other consumer products. If an element is present in a product, an XRF analyzer stirs it up with x-rays and measures the fluorescence activity to determine its relative level. XRF also has industrial and environmental uses.

Why the buzz? As we reported in the December 2007 issue of Consumer Reports and as you might have read in news stories over the last year, a rising number of consumer goods have been found to contain dangerous levels of lead. X-ray fluorescence has become a part of the efforts to get these hazardous products off the market. Armed with XRF analyzers, public-health officials, advocacy groups, and responsible manufacturers are able to rapidly screen goods for lead and other harmful elements.

XRF machines like the model shown are pricey, costing upward of $35,000, so you won't find them at a nearby home center. But you can hire a lead professional to perform an XRF test on paint and soil in and around your home. Note that homes built before 1978, when lead paint was banned, are very likely to harbor lead somewhere, sometimes buried, in the walls, woodwork or soil and exterior siding. To find a testing company in your area, go to www.epa.gov/lead (click on "lead professionals") or call the National Lead Information Center at 800-424-5323.

With all the news about lead in toys and other products, the market for home lead-test kits is growing. Home-use lead test kits, while far more limited than XRF, are another way you can find sources of lead in your home. These kits detect only surface, or accessible, lead, not lead embedded below the surface. For more information, read our September 2008 review of lead and radon test kits. (Note that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission advises against using these kits for the screening of toys, jewelry, and other consumer products.)

The National Institute of Standards and Technology and the EPA have found that lead test kits can be effective in identifying lead paint when used correctly. Although, as our tests confirmed, they don't measure the levels of lead present, which, in some cases could be below the federal standards in some positive tests.—Daniel DiClerico

Essential information: Read this post from the Consumer Reports Safety blog about Jeffrey Weidenhamer, Ph.D., a professor of chemistry at Ashland University who's been instrumental in raising public awareness about consumer products with high lead levels. And learn how to deal with lead paint in your home.

Comments

[Chantal Pothier]

BEWARE OF WHIRLPOOL CANADA CUSTOMER SERVICE!

Eight months ago I purchased one of their top notch high-efficiency front load washer/dryer duet with digital control panel from Whirlpool. Six weeks ago, the washer’s digital control panel died on me. A technician came by to have a look. Special parts had to be ordered. After waiting 2 weeks, I called Corbeil Appliances to inquire whether they heard back from the technician. Corbeil Appliances’ customer service was very weak and only too happy to transfer me to Whirlpool directly. I then learned that the parts were on back order in Canada for another 2-3 weeks. How can they sell state-of-the-art machines and how can they not have parts available in Canada? How can they leave their customer stranded that long? After almost 5-week wait, the same technician came back with 2 new parts. The washer worked for about 7 minutes and the digital control panel died on us again while the technician was still present in the room!

This washer is definitely defective and possibly dangerous for fire hazard for my household. I have wrote Whirlpool many times for a replacement. I also called many times and every time some is to call me back from the management office. I still have not yet heard from them. I also learned that all parts are once again on back order in Canada for another 3 weeks.

Since no one's helping, all I want to do is take it out of my house and dropped it off to Corbeil Appliances' front yard parking lot.

I’m a mother who’s been without a washer for 6 weeks now and who's continually been told to wait a little much longer. I would like to tell people to think twice before buying these state-of-the-art digital control panel machines because when they break, they can be very costly and there are no parts available in Canada to fix them in a timely fashion way. The funny part is they call themselves “Whirlpool Customer Loyalty Team”. Where is the service?

A very frustrated customer!

[Joseph A. Wolfe]

I am a photographer. I have worked part-time for a friend of mine in his camera shop for a long time(20+ years). I have sold every type of camera imaginable.

Photographers and commercial camera outlets pay NO attention to your reviews of cameras and photographic supplies because you seldom speak to the real strengths and weaknesses of the product tested.

Contact me and I will bring to your attention a blunder which is either based on ignorance of the importants of features in the products or lack of real experience in the commercial photographic world. If you have covered this problem somewhere, I have missed it and will apologize immediately.

Joseph A. Wolfe
Wichita, KS 67203
316-210-8629
jwolfe5@cox.net