XRF Testing

XRF testing now available in New Zealand!

Interested to know if that vintage toy or beautifully coloured plate has harmful heavy metals in it? Need to test your backyard soil for contamination? Wondering if those paint chips from your windows have some lead or a LOT of lead? You’ve come to the right place.

Your requested donation covers the cost of the instrument time AND enables free testing for ECEs, schools and community events. Lead Aware NZ’s nonprofit status (through The Gift Collective) means all finances are transparent and nobody is profiting from this. The purpose of this service is to advance the understanding of heavy metals in consumer goods in New Zealand, and help ensure the environments of children in NZ are safe.

About XRF

X-Ray Fluorescence is a fantastic method to detect the elemental composition of an item without destructive and expensive lab testing. It can read the surface few millimetres but it can not tell if the metals are directly on the surface, just beneath the surface, or if they may be leaching out of the surface. Lead Aware NZ uses an Olympus InnovX 4000 Delta instrument with 30s analysis time in soil mode. If the items are not soil, it’s estimated the lead (Pb) content may vary by 10%+ with other modes of XRF testing such as consumer product mode. XRF is always considered a screening tool that should be followed up by laboratory analysis for best accuracy of results. Lead Aware NZ is NOT an accredited laboratory.

XRF instruments are extremely expensive ($40K+) and maintenance is also very expensive. Literally just turning the instrument on costs $200. Users must do radiation training and be licensed by the government Office of Radiation Safety to use it. So it is a really big privilege to be able to offer this testing for New Zealanders.

Instrument Sensitivity

The InnovX instrument is an older model XRF but still highly accurate. The sensitivity varies with the element and the matrix. It can detect lead (Pb) at single digit ppm levels in soil but in ceramics the detection limit is 20-40 ppm. (This means XRF testing is not useful for food or supplements as lead is toxic at levels far below what the XRF can detect). Cadmium can’t be detected less than ~30 ppm. Arsenic can be temperamental as the signal can be swamped out by high lead levels and signal artifacts mean it isn’t accurate in ceramics. So arsenic will only be available for wood and soil samples. The instrument is calibrated at every session.

What can be tested?

Can be tested:

Toys

Crockery

Glass

Soil (snack size baggie)

Paint chips (bagged)

Vacuum dust (sieved ideally)

Wood items

Christmas decorations

Leather and faux leather

Metal items

     (with limitations, contact for details)

Can NOT be tested:

Food

Supplements

Water

Humans and animals

Large items

Very small items

Dangerous goods

Prices and Agreement on Results Publishing

For families: $20 per item

For schools and ECEs: Free testing up to 5 items per year

Everyone is responsible for courier costs to Gisborne, and additionally for return courier if desired. Lead Aware NZ is not responsible for items damaged in shipping.

All test results will be emailed to you AND published on the Lead Aware NZ website with a photo of the item, in order to increase understanding of heavy metal content in NZ products. The published test results will not contain any identifying information of the submitter. 

By submitting samples, you agree to have your results published online for public viewing.

Results may take up to one month or longer in order to gather enough items for a batch of testing. If you need urgent results or cannot afford important testing, please contact me.

Each item will receive:

  • Test results from up to 3 places (interior vs exterior or varying colours or design elements, etc)
  • Results about lead and cadmium for most products, plus arsenic in soil or wood.

How to get your stuff tested

  1. Click this link to fill out a sample submission sheet, with your contact info and sample information.
  2. Send your test items via tracked NZ Post to exactly this address:

    Ananda Card NZM415820
    Collection: Countdown Gisborne
    109 Carnarvon St
    Gisborne 4010

  3. Once we receive your samples, we will contact you. Please make the suggested donation at our Gift Collective website (link here)
  4. If you’d like your samples back after testing, include a return courier envelope when you send them. Samples not picked up within 1 month of receiving results will be disposed of.