The natural health marketplace has always been pitched as the safer solution to more synthetic or harsher pharmaceutical industries. But what’s been making the rounds within the past handful of years recently is that increasingly, natural product companies have begun conducting independent heavy metal testing on all their supplements and skincare/wellness offerings. It’s not just a trend; it’s responding to a need that no one wanted to discuss for far too long.
Natural products can have heavy metals in them. Not because companies are putting them there, but because metals are naturally occurring in soil, water, and plants. But this is a problem because “natural,” “clean,” and “soothing” do not mean that a product will be free from any inherent contaminants.
Where Heavy Metals Come From
Heavy metals are naturally occurring in the soil and since plants absorb whatever is in their growing elements, any soil with arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury, for instance, will have that same impact, especially when it’s from pollution-inducing factories creating metals in high quantities. This is the case with rice protein (arsenic), seaweed (ocean metals), and even with the most innocent of herbs like basil that may have grown in pristine conditions for hundreds of years but may have had geological findings of metals eons before anyone ever farmed there.
This became a problem when consumers asked more questions and began asking for testing. Heavy health-conscious buyers who wanted natural products to avoid synthetic chemicals found themselves wondering whether they were ingesting lead instead of calcium. Data was disclosed by independent testing groups and brand decisions soon turned critical. Naturally, consumers started looking for brands that were transparent from the start about what was in their products. For instance, Naturally Linda’s Heavy Metal Testing results are easy to find on their website, boosting confidence in the safety of their products.
Where Testing Didn’t Happen
Natural product companies for years did the absolute minimum testing for safety. Minor bacteria and mold were checked, but without the credentials to find or pay for metal testing, small batch makers figured that the “clean” products they sourced from would work well for their own sourcing abilities. This is important because metal testing has a much higher price point for machines and opportunities needed to test effectively.
Since natural products frequently have less stringent testing requirements than pharmaceuticals, a company can legally sell a supplement without knowing whether there’s any heavy metals in it, unless they’re making claims about medical implications.
And then, when problems occurred, it was generally through testing acquired by the public. A consumer advocacy group would purchase items off the shelf and subsequently test them, noting concerning amounts of lead or arsenic. The companies would respond and realize they didn’t know what was going on in their products except for active ingredients and common fillers.
Where Third-Party Testing Proves Effective
It’s important to note that some companies began to test internally and publish those findings, which is better than nothing but doesn’t do much as far as transparency is concerned because would any company actually publish bad results? This changed when companies sent their products to independent accredited labs without any financial line to the companies owned perimeters.
Accredited facilities work within standards agreed upon over decades with recognized safety thresholds within the industry. This transparent screening looked mostly at arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury, the four major heavy metals to watch out for across consumer products.
Consumer confidence drastically shifted when companies had to send their products out into the world to get real numbers that were aligned with marketed safety thresholds to check against themselves. If they avoided transparency and didn’t help consumers trust efforts, then consumers rightly called them out.
What Testing Shows
For the most part, testing shows that natural products are within safe levels for consumers. This is key, because there isn’t an outbreak crisis that’s making everything on shelves suddenly problematic, however, when testing is conducted, it does show moments of finds before consumers get their hands on particular products with proven problems.
In addition, products essentially show sourcing opportunities. The more testing done on one ingredient versus another shows cleaner sources for farms or geographical locations which can switch suppliers or change formulations or add clarification, giving companies responsible power over what they can control.
At present, some brands test every batch of certain highly known ingredients that require specific metal potential; others test quarterly finished products on their shelves. It all depends on types and levels assessed but frequent assessment is becoming more of a norm where quality matters more than quantity.
Why Consumers Are Paying Attention
What’s changed? It’s not just consumer risk; it’s also competition. When one company starts publishing heavy metal testing results, it forces others in a category to do the same lest people believe they’re trying to hide something. Social media makes it easier for customers to share testing results and compare their findings, which could encourage someone to challenge those who won’t publish.
More importantly, companies found it easier to spend the money on testing than risk losing credibility as word spread that the brand tested but kept it quiet.
Natural health products began relying on assessments to prove numbers instead of boasting how “natural” should be “trusted” without complicating factors. As long as a product shows successful findings showing it’s not lying about quality control these days convince consumers so often look for certified numbers instead of just believing marketing hype.
At the end of the day natural health product companies never wanted their integrity at stake; now they realize that revealing where things could go wrong creates more trust than pretending perfection ever could.
The owners and authors of Cinnamon Hollow are not doctors and this is in no way intended to be used as medical advice. We cannot be held responsible for your results. As with any product, service or supplement, use at your own risk. Always do your own research and consult with your personal physician before using.
Meg is an author at Cinnamon Hollow. She writes on a variety of topics sharing tips and ideas for daily life.
