FSTest Water Heavy Metal Pb Rapid Test Strip (10 Tests)

Product Overview

The FSTest Water Heavy Metal Pb Rapid Test Strip is a professional-grade, immuno-chromatographic assay designed for the fast, qualitative screening of heavy metal lead (Pb) contamination in water supplies. This kit provides water treatment plants, environmental monitoring agencies, and food and beverage manufacturers with a streamlined, cost-effective tool to audit water purity and ensure strict compliance with regulatory safety standards.

Engineered specifically for drinking water screening, the kit effectively flags lead levels above or below the safety threshold, serving as a dependable first-line defense in environmental quality control and public health safety monitoring programs.

Product Highlights & Key Benefits

· Rapid Field Screening: Run the assay and interpret the visual lines within a swift 5 to 8 minute window, bypassing lengthy laboratory wait times.

· High-Sensitivity Detection Threshold: Features an optimized regulatory cut-off sensitivity calibrated precisely to 0.01 ppm (mg/L).

· Complete Equipment-Free Kit: Arrives fully packed with all necessary consumables—including test strips, microwells, centrifuge tubes, disposable transfer pipettes, and an extracting reagent. No complex laboratory infrastructure or titration chemistry is required.

· Inverse Visual Readout: Simple and definitive visualization. When lead is present, the Test (T) line disappears due to competitive inhibition, allowing for easy differentiation without the need for electronic readers.

· Stable Ambient Performance: The lateral flow reaction performs reliably across a broad room temperature operating range of 20–40°C.

Technical Principle: Competitive Inhibition

The test is based on a competitive lateral flow immunochromatographic assay. The strip features an area for result reading that contains a built-in Control (C) line and a Test (T) line, both of which are invisible before fluidics activation.

Free Lead Ions (Pb) + Antibody-Conjugates → Lateral Flow → Inhibition of Binding at T-Line → Absent T-Line

When a treated water sample is applied, the liquid flows laterally upward across the strip surface via capillary action. If the sample contains heavy metal lead (Pb) at or exceeding the limit of detection, the lead ions bind to the antibodies and fully inhibit them from reacting with the pre-coated antigens on the T-line. This causes the Test (T) line to not appear. Conversely, in a safe/negative sample, the antibodies bind completely to the T-zone, forming a strong, visible color band. The Control (C) line must always appear after a sample is applied to ensure that fluidics and test integrity are fully functional.

Specifications & Limit of Detection

Step-by-Step Procedure

1. Sample Preparation (Extraction)

· Using a pipette, transfer 0.2 mL of your water sample into a clean 0.5 mL centrifuge tube.

· Add exactly 20 µL of the Extracting Reagent into the tube.

· Shake the tube thoroughly for 1 minute to mix the contents completely, then let it stand undisturbed for 5 minutes. The sample is now ready for testing.

2. Running the Assay

· Equilibrate the test strip, microwell, and extracting reagent to an ambient temperature of 20–40°C before starting.

· Pipette 80 µL of the pre-treated sample mixture into a reagent-coated microwell. Mix by pipetting up and down 3–5 times with a disposable pipette, then incubate at room temperature for 5 minutes.

· Immerse the test part of the strip into the sample within the microwell and start timing.

· Interpret the visual results within 5 to 8 minutes. Do not read results after 8 minutes, as late chemical reactions are strictly invalid.

Results Determination & Action Guide

· Negative (-): Both the Control (C) line and the Test (T) line develop a clear color. This confirms that lead levels in the water sample are safely below the 0.01 ppm screening threshold.

· Positive (+): Only the Control (C) line appears; the Test (T) line fails to show any visible color. This indicates a contamination event where the heavy metal lead concentration is at or above the 0.01 ppm limit.

· Invalid: The Control (C) line fails to appear completely, regardless of whether the T line is visible or not. The test should be re-run immediately using a brand new strip.

Crucial Safety & Handling Precautions

· This product is engineered for qualitative detection ONLY and serves as a rapid screening tool. It does not indicate exact quantitative numerical concentrations. Confirmatory analytical methods should always be used to verify findings.

· Never touch the exposed white reaction area in the middle of the test strip. Always handle the strip by the marked handheld top end.

· Inspect the packaging before opening. If the container tube or strip wrap is damaged, the strips may have absorbed ambient moisture, which can compromise test accuracy.

· All strips and microwells are strictly single-use items. Ensure you run the assay well within the product’s stamped expiration window.

Storage & Packing Specifications

· 10 tests per box (Test strips x 10, Microwells x 10, Centrifuge tubes x 10, Pipettes x 10, Extracting reagent x 1, User manual).

· Storage Environment:Store tightly sealed in a cool, dry place between 4–30°C. Do not freeze.

· Shelf Life:18 months under proper sealed storage parameters.