What are the degrees of heavy metals and microplastics discovered inside your favourite sea salt and Himalayan salt merchandise? This was the query Mamavation neighborhood 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 carry you subjects 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 evaluations 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 submit was medically reviewed by Sondra Strand, RN, BSN, PHN. Donations have been offered by Mamavation neighborhood members. Observe 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 submit comprises affiliate hyperlinks, with most to Amazon, which suggests Mamavation will obtain a portion of these gross sales and we’ll use that to pay ourselves again for the testing. You may as well give a tax-deductible donation to our client 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. People are getting most of their sodium from processed meals, and subsequently, in case you are cooking and consuming your meals from house in your personal kitchen, you possibly can enormously 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.” That is why we extremely suggest you prepare dinner most of your meals from scratch with components which are minimally processed.
However what concerning the high quality of salt you’re utilizing? Some metals which are 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 will require a Prop. 65 warning based mostly on serving dimension per day. As well as, no salt product had excessive sufficient microplastics that might 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 in case you are involved about clearly poisonous or doubtlessly poisonous metals inside your salt, you can make an informed determination when purchasing. Here is what we discovered:
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The sunshine metallic, 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 by way of 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 components per million (ppm)
◦ Arsenic (as As), shouldn’t be in your meals or complement at greater than 3 components 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 shouldn’t exceed 0.005 components per million (ppm)
In the case of defending shoppers, California has much more stringent well being protecting ranges, however as an alternative of banning merchandise, they require producers to make use of label warnings as an alternative. 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 supply warnings to shoppers residing in California about important exposures to chemical compounds that trigger most cancers, start defects, or different reproductive hurt.
These chemical compounds could be within the merchandise they buy, of their properties or workplaces, or launched into the surroundings. By requiring this data to be offered, it permits shoppers in California to make knowledgeable choices about their publicity to those chemical compounds.
Listed below are the No Vital Threat 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 degree for reproductive toxicity, 15 ug/day (oral) for carcinogens
◦ Mercury — No established ranges (and subsequently no seafood would require a warning)
◦ Aluminum — No established ranges (and subsequently no salt merchandise would require a warning)
Essentially the most tough half to grasp about Prop. 65 is it is not concerning the precise take a look at outcomes. Defendents should show that the common particular person would eat sufficient to the product in a 70 yr 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 trendy occasions from agricultural pesticides within the case of arsenic and lead and the myriad different makes use of of lead similar to its now terminated use as a combustion promoter in gasoline), an organization can keep away from having to supply a warning label.
Subsequently, it is difficult and obscure until you may have good attorneys by your aspect to elucidate. 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 colour dyes, anti-caking brokers, or for leavening breads with out energetic yeast.
It is potential aluminum might be discovering its method into salt in varied ranges as an anti-caking agent, which might assist stop it from clumping. Nonetheless, not all of those merchandise disclosed using 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 based mostly on what you’re consuming, nonetheless, it is assumed to be anyplace from 0 to 95 milligrams per day for People. The US doesn’t have any requirements for aluminum in meals that we might discover. We might, nonetheless, discover tolerable weekly intakes from the European Meals Security Authority (EFSA) and the World Well being Group (WHO) based mostly on the precautionary precept.
- Based mostly on the mixed proof from a number of research, EFSA has advisable 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 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 keeping with the WHO, somebody who weighs 150 lbs. might 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 potential, particularly for folks with dangerous kidneys, that you would be consuming greater than a protected advice.
In reflection of the Precautionary Precept, we have examined salt for aluminum for you as properly that will help 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 method into salt? Formally, we aren’t sure model by model, however listed below are some theories based mostly on how different meals merchandise are contaminated:
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Naturally occurring — Heavy metals are naturally current within the soil in several concentrations based mostly 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 persistently discovered increased heavy metals in Himalayan salts vs. most sea salts as a result of Himalayan salt is dug out of the bottom largely in Pakistan, which can also be recognized to have increased ranges of Cadmium within the soil. Nonetheless, it’s to be remembered that Himalayan sea salt is assumed to have been laid down within the Permian Epoch greater than 250 million years in the past so the metallic content material displays that really historical surroundings. |
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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 similar 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 might discover its method 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 method. When salt is processed, the manufacturing tools itself might 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 understood 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 method into different components 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 pleased to see that mercury was non-detect for all samples of salt. |
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Meals components — Some meals components might be contaminated with heavy metals, or as within the case with aluminum, might 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 varieties of heavy metals assorted. Here is a few notes to think about earlier than studying the uncooked information:
- The laboratory additionally seemed for microplastics through the use of 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 kind of microplastics they have been
- Components per billion is ppb and components per million is ppm
- 1 ppm = 1,000 ppb
- MRL means Most Residue Ranges which meant that the lab might detect some metals, but it surely was so low they may not measure the precise quantity
We divided the 23 salt merchandise into 3 classes in keeping with contamination ranges. These ranges replicate the general ranges of heavy metallic 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 best quantities of heavy metals in keeping with our laboratory. Aluminum is reported within the ppm, whereas different heavy metals are reported within the ppb.
On this class, you can 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 Fantastic Floor Pink Himalayan Salt | 167.270 | 44.637 | < MRL | ND | 92.564 |
| Redmonds Actual Salt Historical Fantastic 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 Fantastic 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 Fantastic 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 symbolize the center of the street by way of heavy metals in keeping 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 Fantastic 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 Fantastic 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 |
• Finest 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.
Here 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 might detect some metals, but it surely 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 |
Concerning the Writer
Leah Segedie is the President and Founding father of Mamavation.com. Mamavation produces award-winning content material and unbiased client 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 client research on meals, drinks, private care merchandise and different such merchandise and thus democratizing science and testing for everybody.
