What are the degrees of heavy metals and microplastics discovered inside your favourite sea salt and Himalayan salt merchandise? This was the query Mamavation group members requested us and we did not know the reply, so we despatched 23 well-liked salt merchandise off to an EPA-certified laboratory to search out out.
Do you need to know the way excessive the degrees of heavy metals and microplastics are in your favourite sea salt or Himalayan salt?
You have trusted Mamavation to deliver you matters just like the most secure butter with out poisonous PFAS packaging, the most secure cookware sans PFAS and nanoparticles, and most secure water purifiers to filter PFAS “endlessly chemical compounds,” now be a part of us for the outcomes of 23 salt merchandise despatched to the lab testing for metals aluminum and arsenic, and heavy metals cadmium, mercury, and lead and microplastics.
Disclosure: Scientific critiques have been carried out by (1) Terrence Collins, Teresa Heinz Professor of Inexperienced Chemistry and Director of the Institute for Inexperienced Sciences at Carnegie Mellon College and (2) Pete Myers, Chief Scientist at Environmental Well being Sciences, Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at Carnegie Mellon College, and co-author of Our Stolen Future.
This publish was medically reviewed by Sondra Strand, RN, BSN, PHN. Donations have been offered by Mamavation group members. Notice that Mamavation has solely “spot-checked” the trade and thus we can not make predictions about manufacturers and merchandise that weren’t examined in our EPA-certified laboratory.
Merchandise and manufacturing aides can change with out discover so purchaser beware. This publish incorporates affiliate hyperlinks, with most to Amazon, which implies Mamavation will obtain a portion of these gross sales and we’ll use that to pay ourselves again for the testing. You can even give a tax-deductible donation to our shopper research right here by Environmental Well being Sciences. Thanks!
Aluminum, Arsenic, Cadmium and Lead Present in Salt Manufacturers
In line with the American Coronary heart Affiliation, the common American consumes about 3,400 milligrams per day of salt, whereas the dietary pointers recommends we eat lower than 2,300 milligrams (mg) of sodium every day. Individuals are getting most of their sodium from processed meals, and due to this fact, if you’re cooking and consuming your meals from house in your individual kitchen, you possibly can vastly scale back these ranges.
It is claimed that “consuming much less sodium can scale back your threat for hypertension, fluid retention, coronary heart illness, stroke, kidney points, osteoporosis and most cancers.” Because of this we extremely advocate you prepare dinner most of your meals from scratch with substances which can be minimally processed.
However what in regards to the high quality of salt you’re utilizing? Some metals which can be recognized or suspected toxicants and microplastics are already recognized to be inside salt however at what ranges? That is the query we tried to reply to assist our viewers decrease their sodium consumption whereas additionally reducing their consumption of heavy metals and microplastics.
Mamavation despatched 23 salt merchandise off to an EPA-certified laboratory to check for aluminum, arsenic, and heavy metals cadmium, mercury and lead and microplastics. The excellent news is not any salt product got here again with the equal ranges that may require a Prop. 65 warning primarily based on serving dimension per day. As well as, no salt product had excessive sufficient microplastics that may very well be conclusively acknowledged by FTIR testing.
The dangerous information was all salt merchandise had detectable quantities of the topic metals current. Mamavation has achieved our greatest to share with you what our laboratory discovered in order that if you’re involved about clearly poisonous or doubtlessly poisonous metals inside your salt, you can make an informed determination when procuring. This is what we discovered:
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The sunshine steel, aluminum, was present in 78% of the salt merchandise — 35% of salt merchandise had over 100,000 ppb of aluminum. |
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Arsenic was present in 100% of salt merchandise — 74% of salt merchandise had over 10 ppb of arsenic. |
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Cadmium was present in 70% of salt merchandise — 4% of salt merchandise had over 4.1 ppb of cadmium. |
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Mercury was NOT present in any salt merchandise. |
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Lead was present in 96% of salt merchandise. |
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Microplastics have been so minute they may not be conclusively detected and acknowledged through Fourier Remodeled Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopic imaging for any pattern. |
[Update: 3 additional salt products were added to this investigation from popular demand on 2/13/24 and the above percentages were not adjusted.]
• Federal vs. California Prop. 65 “protected harbor” ranges for heavy metals like lead and arsenic — So what ranges of lead, arsenic, mercury, and cadmium are regarding to public well being officers? In line with the Meals and Drug Administration, the degrees inside your meals that you’re allowed to be uncovered to are as follows:
◦ Heavy metals as lead (as Pb), shouldn’t be in your meals or dietary supplements at greater than 10 elements per million (ppm)
◦ Arsenic (as As), shouldn’t be in your meals or complement at greater than 3 elements per million (ppm)
◦ Mercury (as Hg), shouldn’t be in your meals or dietary supplements at greater than 1 half per million (ppm)
◦ Cadmium ranges (as Cd) in bottled water mustn’t exceed 0.005 elements per million (ppm)
In relation to defending shoppers, California has much more stringent well being protecting ranges, however as a substitute of banning merchandise, they require producers to make use of label warnings as a substitute. California’s Prop. 65 established “protected harbor ranges” for a lot of the heavy metals we examined: arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury.
Prop. 65 requires companies to offer warnings to shoppers dwelling in California about important exposures to chemical compounds that trigger most cancers, delivery defects, or different reproductive hurt.
These chemical compounds could be within the merchandise they buy, of their properties or workplaces, or launched into the atmosphere. By requiring this data to be offered, it permits shoppers in California to make knowledgeable choices about their publicity to those chemical compounds.
Listed here are the No Vital Danger Ranges (NSRL) and the Most Allowable Dose Ranges (MADL) established by the State of California for the heavy metals we examined:
◦ Arsenic — 0.06 ug/day (inhalation), 10 ug/day (besides inhalation)
◦ Cadmium — 0.05 ug/day (inhalation), 4.1 ug/day (oral)
◦ Lead — 0.5 ug/day stage for reproductive toxicity, 15 ug/day (oral) for carcinogens
◦ Mercury — No established ranges (and due to this fact no seafood would require a warning)
◦ Aluminum — No established ranges (and due to this fact no salt merchandise would require a warning)
Essentially the most troublesome half to know about Prop. 65 is it isn’t in regards to the precise take a look at outcomes. Defendents should show that the common particular person would eat sufficient to the product in a 70 12 months interval to trigger most cancers or reproductive hurt.
If that contaminate is “naturally occurring” like so many heavy metals are within the soil (particularly in fashionable occasions from agricultural pesticides within the case of arsenic and lead and the myriad different makes use of of lead equivalent to its now terminated use as a combustion promoter in gasoline), an organization can keep away from having to offer a warning label.
Subsequently, it is difficult and obscure until you could have good attorneys by your aspect to clarify. However the bottomline is not any salt product we examined would require a warning label beneath the California statute.
Aluminum in Meals and Requirements Set in Europe
Aluminum can come from pure sources because it makes up 8% of the earth’s mass. The Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) considers aluminum used as an oblique additive in meals “usually considered protected.” Thus aluminum compounds are utilized in some ways in American meals manufacturing as preservatives, as coloration dyes, anti-caking brokers, or for leavening breads with out energetic yeast.
It is attainable aluminum may very well be discovering its means into salt in varied ranges as an anti-caking agent, which might assist stop it from clumping. Nonetheless, not all of those merchandise disclosed the usage of aluminum as a meals additive in the event that they have been utilizing it.
The quantity of aluminum from oblique meals components varies from individual to individual primarily based on what you’re consuming, nonetheless, it is assumed to be wherever from 0 to 95 milligrams per day for Individuals. The US doesn’t have any requirements for aluminum in meals that we may discover. We may, nonetheless, discover tolerable weekly intakes from the European Meals Security Authority (EFSA) and the World Well being Group (WHO) primarily based on the precautionary precept.
- Primarily based on the mixed proof from a number of research, EFSA has beneficial a tolerable weekly consumption (TWI) of 1 mg aluminum/kg physique weight/week. Thus utilizing EFSA’s estimate, an individual weighing 150 lbs. can tolerate as much as the equal of 68 mg of aluminum per week.
- Extra just lately, in 2011, the Joint FAO/WHO Skilled Committee on Meals Components (JECFA) reviewed scientific proof which elevated their confidence within the threat evaluation, and thus WHO consultants established an elevated Provisional Tolerable Weekly Consumption (PTWI) of two mg/kg physique weight. This implies, in line with the WHO, somebody who weighs 150 lbs. may safely 136 mg per week.
Since you are additionally getting aluminum inside different meals like baked items with flour, beans, condiments, cereals, cheese sauces, root greens, and sure seafood, it might be attainable, particularly for individuals with dangerous kidneys, that you could possibly be consuming greater than a protected advice.
In reflection of the Precautionary Precept, we have examined salt for aluminum for you as nicely that can assist you make these choices your self on the place you want to your dietary aluminum to return from.
How Do Heavy Metals Discover Themselves in Salt?
So how do heavy metals (aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, mercury and lead) discover their means into salt? Formally, we aren’t sure model by model, however listed below are some theories primarily based on how different meals merchandise are contaminated:
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Naturally occurring — Heavy metals are naturally current within the soil in several concentrations primarily based on the geology of the land. For example, extra cadmium is present in sure soils in South America and fewer in sure African soils. This can be why we constantly discovered greater heavy metals in Himalayan salts vs. most sea salts as a result of Himalayan salt is dug out of the bottom principally in Pakistan, which can also be recognized to have greater ranges of Cadmium within the soil. Nonetheless, it’s to be remembered that Himalayan sea salt is believed to have been laid down within the Permian Epoch greater than 250 million years in the past so the steel content material displays that actually historic atmosphere. |
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Legacy pesticide use — For a lot of many years, heavy metals have been added to pesticides as an adjuvants, or have been key parts of pesticide toxicity equivalent to with lead arsenate used as a pesticide in orchards and may nonetheless be present in soils with a historical past of sure pesticide use. Thus, runoff from farm use may discover its means into sea salt. |
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Manufacturing contamination — Heavy metals could be discovered in lots of manufacturing conditions, for instance, as tools is used mud from abrasion can contaminate meals and private care merchandise that means. When salt is processed, the manufacturing tools itself may pose a contamination threat. |
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Storage — In locations the place heavy metals are current within the soil, storing and drying sure salts exterior can current a contamination threat. Darkish chocolate is thought to be contaminated this manner. |
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Air air pollution — Heavy metals can begin as air air pollution from manufacturing byproducts from polluted industrial areas and may discover their means into different elements of the world by the wind and thru our bodies of water. For instance, mercury initially present in coal is launched into the air when coal is burned. Downwind it falls to the earth and is transformed to methyl mercury, which strikes up the meals chain contaminating fish, together with tuna. We have been completely satisfied to see that mercury was non-detect for all samples of salt. |
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Meals components — Some meals components may very well be contaminated with heavy metals, or as within the case with aluminum, may itself be a meals additive. |
Investigation of Salts for Heavy Metals and Uncooked Information
To recap, Mamavation despatched 23 salt merchandise to an EPA-certified lab testing for aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, mercury and lead. 100% of salt merchandise had detectable quantities of heavy metals and people ranges and kinds of heavy metals different. This is a few notes to contemplate earlier than studying the uncooked knowledge:
- The laboratory additionally appeared for microplastics by utilizing Fourier Remodeled Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopic imaging. Microplastics have been discovered, however they weren’t in excessive sufficient ranges for the take a look at to conclusively acknowledge what sort of microplastics they have been
- Components per billion is ppb and elements per million is ppm
- 1 ppm = 1,000 ppb
- MRL means Most Residue Ranges which meant that the lab may detect some metals, nevertheless it was so low they may not measure the precise quantity
We divided the 23 salt merchandise into 3 classes in line with contamination ranges. These ranges mirror the general ranges of heavy steel contamination in every product however don’t comply with particular authorities suggestions.
[Update: 3 additional salt products were added to this investigation on 2/13/24 and are marked with a ** in the “not our favorite” category.]
• Not our favourite salt merchandise — These salt merchandise represented the very best quantities of heavy metals in line with our laboratory. Aluminum is reported within the ppm, whereas different heavy metals are reported within the ppb.
On this class, you will see between 29 ppm to 242 ppm of aluminum, 12.53 ppb to 82.156 ppb arsenic, non-detect to 7.32 ppb cadmium, all mercury non-detect, and between 92.56 ppb to 553.44 ppb of lead.
[Update: We added 3 additional salt products to this investigation from audience popularity and they are at the bottom of this category marked with a **.]
| Al in ppm | As in ppb | Cd in ppb | Hg in ppb | Pb in ppb | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Artisan Salt Firm Historical Ocean Himalayan Pink Salt | 130.514 | 40.5 | 0.74 | ND | 96.834 |
| Manischewitz Pure Kosher Salt | 29.955 | 12.536 | ND | ND | 140.572 |
| McCormick Advantageous Floor Pink Himalayan Salt | 167.270 | 44.637 | < MRL | ND | 92.564 |
| Redmonds Actual Salt Historical Advantageous Sea Salt | 229.071 | 36.14 | 7.3256 | ND | 252.246 |
| San Francisco Salt Firm Sherpa Pink Himalayan Salt | 251.824 | 39.43 | 1.1276 | ND | 132.984 |
| Celtic Sea Salt Advantageous Floor | 171.320 | 82.156 | 1.1927 | ND | 553.440 |
| Shaun Himalayan Salt | 173.534 | 42.006 | 1.7755 | ND | 106.704 |
| The Spice Lab Himalayan Salt | 242.750 | 46.063 | 1.0684 | ND | 170.570 |
| Dealer Joes Himalayan Pink Salt Crystals | 83.041 | 33.686 | 1.7928 | ND | 180.695 |
| Wellsley Farms Kosher Himalayan Pink Salt | 211.772 | 35.032 | 0.9818 | ND | 14.985 |
| **Baja Gold Mineral Sea Salt Advantageous Grind | < MRL | < MRL | 3.63 | ND | 337.79 |
| **Colima Sea Salt | < MRL | < MRL | 2.29 | ND | 16.55 |
| **Essential 4 mMinerals (Polar White Sea Salt) | 5.02 | 21.94 | 1.13 | ND | 7.41 |
• Higher salt merchandise — These salt merchandise characterize the center of the street by way of heavy metals in line with our lab. Aluminum is reported within the ppm, whereas different heavy metals are reported within the ppb. This class has the next ranges current: Between 2.154 ppm to 80.468 ppm of aluminum, between 7.39 ppb to 24.14 ppb of arsenic, between non-detect to 0.77 ppb of cadmium, no mercury, and between 45.63 ppb to 84.45 ppb of lead.
| Al in ppm | As in ppb | Cd in ppb | Hg in ppb | Pb in ppb | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frontier Co-Op Advantageous Grind Pink Himalayan Salt | 80.468 | 17.487 | < MRL | ND | 71.416 |
| Seasonello Iodized Sea Salt | 3.426 | 7.391 | < MRL | ND | 55.496 |
| Terrasoul Superfoods Himalayan Pink Salt | 16.377 | 24.141 | 0.620 | ND | 84.447 |
| Watkins Advantageous Himalayan Pink Salt | 76.864 | 19.102 | 0.752 | ND | 90.246 |
| Vera Salt Pure Pure Spring Salt Microplastic Free | 2.154 | 15.425 | 0.769 | ND | 45.627 |
• Greatest salt merchandise — These salt merchandise had the bottom quantities of heavy metals. Aluminum is reported within the ppm, whereas different heavy metals are reported within the ppb.
This is how low this class was: All aluminum was beneath 2 ppm, all arsenic was 15.27 ppb or much less, all cadmium was 2.56 ppb or much less, all Mercury was non-detect, and all lead was 14.99 or much less. MRL means Most Residue Ranges which meant that the lab may detect some metals, nevertheless it was so low they may not measure the precise quantity.
| Al in ppm | As in ppb | Cd in ppb | Hg in ppb | Pb in ppb | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David’s Kosher Salt | ND | 10.839 | < MRL | ND | 3.561 |
| Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt | ND | ND | < MRL | ND | ND |
| Hain Pure Meals Iodized Salt | < MRL | 9.552 | 2.559 | ND | 3.702 |
| Jacobsen’s Salt Firm Kosher Sea Salt | 1.690 | 9.885 | 0.532 | ND | < MRL |
| Maldon Sea Salt Flakes | ND | 12.799 | ND | ND | < MRL |
| Morton Iodized Salt | ND | < MRL | < MRL | ND | 11.967 |
| Saltverk Flaky Sea Salt | ND | 15.273 | ND | ND | 6.571 |
| Wellsley Farms Mediterranean Sea Salt | < MRL | 7.602 | < MRL | ND | 14.985 |
In regards to the Writer
Leah Segedie is the President and Founding father of Mamavation.com. Mamavation produces award-winning content material and unbiased shopper research analyzing the intersection of endocrine-disrupting chemical compounds (EDCs) and on a regular basis merchandise introduced into American households. She’s been referred to by many as “the true FDA.”
Since 2008, Mamavation has been serving to on a regular basis mothers navigate the grocery retailer by commissioning shopper research on meals, drinks, private care merchandise and different such merchandise and thus democratizing science and testing for everybody.