You can test the toys, jewelry and other items in your home for lead paint.
Most hardware stores sell lead testing kits and you can also purchase them over the Internet.
The Center for Environment Health recommends the brand called "LeadCheck", which sells testing swabs for less than four dollars per swab. You can only use the swabs one time, and before you use them it is important to store them at room temperature in a dry area and out of the reach of children.
LeadCheck Swabs Instructions
1. Prepare the swab
Find a clean, easily washable area of the object to be tested. To prevent the testing chemicals from touching you, you should wear latex non-vinyl gloves.
2. Prepare to break the swab.
The lead check swabs contain 2 glass containers of liquids. These must be broken to mix the testing chemicals together. Crush parts "a" and "b". Once you have broken the containers, shake the swab for several seconds to mix the contents.
3. Swab the product
To swab the product, rub the brush side of the swab on the surface of the product you are testing. As you rub, squeeze out some of the liquid from inside the swab. When it comes out, the color of the shaken swab should be a light amber yellow.
If the tip of the swab is the yellow amber color of the testing liquid or if it remains white, the product most likely has no lead on its surface. If the tip of the swab turns any red or pinkish color, the product most likely has lead on its surface.
Remember to wash the item that you tested with soap and warm water.
For Vinyl Surfaces
Baby bibs
Rub and lightly squeeze the swab over all the surface areas of the bib. Swab all vinyl parts of the bib (this can be the back of the bib, the front of the bib, or the pocket).
Lunchboxes
Rub and lightly squeeze the swab over the inside and outside of the vinyl lunch box.
For Jewelry
Rub and lightly squeeze the swab so that the test liquid can be blotted onto different areas of the jewelry. Proceed to rub the tip of the test swab on the surface for up to a minute.
Some examples of suspicious kinds of jewelry: (a) Dull looking metal. (b) Fake pearls with pearlescent coating. (c) Plastic/vinyl cords or bracelets.
The painted coating on fake pearls has been found to have high levels of lead. Before you swab, you may want to file or scrape a small section of the paint so that you test what is beneath the coating. This coating will often wear off during regular use exposing your child to whatever lies beneath it.
http://www.cehca.org/test-for-lead/