Dr Oz: Secondhand Health Hazards
Dr Oz did a show on Secondhand Health Hazards. So if you or someone you know loves to scour through thrift shops and garage sales, definitely read this carefully. You might be bringing home more than you bargained for! Doctor Oz sent two ladies who love to shop at thrift stores to go shopping for bargains. Here is what Peter Luca from the Health Department had to say about Secondhand Bedding, Kitchenware and Electrical Appliances.
Dr Oz: Ceramic Lead Test
Dr Oz’s first shopper purchased a ceramic teapot with a brightly colored glaze on the outside. Deluca said that 
ceramicware with bright colors often contain high levels of lead. He used an X-Ray Florescent Device (or an XRF) to check for lead in the teapot. Sure enough, it had high levels of lead which came in at 9.1, and you really want the lead content to be zero. Peter Deluca said that there can be lead in the glaze, but it should not be leaching out.
Deluca suggests that you bring a little Instant Lead Testing Kit when you go to garage sales or thrift stores, because then you can swab the inside and if it turns a color, that means lead is leaching into your food. He said that there was a case in Westchester where a child had severe lead poisoning, and when they did a lead test on the teapot that the mother used to warm the babies milk for the formula, it came back with extremely high levels of lead.
Dr Oz: Secondhand Bedding
Doctor Oz’s shopper also purchased a dark purple pillow, but when Peter Deluca held a UV Light or Black Light over the pillow, you could see a bodily fluid spot. So you might want to think twice before bringing this into your house. Leave Secondhand Bedding outside until you can thoroughly disinfect it.
Dr Oz: Secondhand Kitchenware
Dr Oz’s second shopper purchased a lamp and a food chopper or food processor. Peter Deluca said that when you buy something for the kitchen that is secondhand, it could have come from a home where cockroaches lived. The roaches can go up into the vents of the machines and lay eggs, and then you could bring it into your home and get a roach infestation. He did not make any comments about the lamp though.
Doctor Oz asked Deluca what people can safely buy, and he said things like clothing or a pillow are ok as long as you thoroughly clean it in the washing machine and put it into the dryer on high heat. Other safer purchases include things like wooden chairs and things that are not upholstered.
Joann George says
Where do I find lead testing kits?
EPA Approved Lead Test Kits says
The recognition for these lead test kits will last until EPA publicizes its acknowledgement of the very first test kit which fits both the positive response and negative response standards defined in the 2008 RRP rule.