Junior Vigilantes

At first glance, it seems similar to the other children's games and kits that have been designed in response to the environmental boom. But the Envirco Pollution Test Kit, aimed at kids between the ages of eight and 14, is not intended for mere play. It enables youthful environmentalists to conduct real tests for air and water pollution, and even provides practical suggestions for fighting polluters.

Expected to sell for about $10 when it appears on store shelves this week, the kit consists of a blue plastic tray of diluted chemicals, four test tubes, five "dropping bottles," a funnel, magnifying glass, microscope slides, a smoke chart and parts for assembling a "smoke trap." One of the experiments described in the instruction booklet shows children how to test the effect of phosphates on algae by adding fertilizer to pond water in a jar; another calls for testing the acid or alkaline content of water in their home washing machine by putting five drops of a chemical (called "universal indicator") into a water sample in a test tube. The water turns red if acid, purple if alkaline.

Help Needed. Not all the activities suggested in the booklet are as innocuous. Young ecoactivists are urged to check the contents of detergents used by their mothers and "encourage your family to change brands and select ones which do not create as great a pollution threat." Sounding a bit like a primer for Red Guards, the booklet also advises children to "photograph every pollutant detected"--not only results of their own experiments but any debris found behind factories, stores and offices or in the streets, parks and rivers. Reporting the results of pollution tests to the proper authorities will create a stir, the kids are warned, but because antipollution laws are "basically ineffective, vigilant citizens are needed to help seek out the offenders."

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