Toothpaste keeps your teeth clean and can help prevent cavities. But recent product testing suggests that many popular brands could pose risks to other aspects of your health.
Lead Safe Mama, LLC, recently asked independent third-party laboratories to test 51 toothpastes and tooth powders and discovered that nearly all contained lead. In addition, many of these products contain high levels of other heavy metals.
The potentially harmful substances detected are:
- Lead: 90% of products that were tested contained this heavy metal
- Arsenic: 65%
- Mercury: 47%
- Cadmium: 35%
Most of the toothpastes and tooth powders tested are made for children, as exposure to lead poses a greater risk to them. However, some products for adults were also found to be among the worst in terms of how much lead they contain (more than 300 parts per billion). They are:
- Crest Regular Toothpaste
- Now Solutions Xyliwhite Toothpaste Gel
- Davids Premium Toothpaste
- Colgate Total Whitening Toothpaste
- VanMan’s Miracle Tooth Powder
Lead and mercury are neurotoxins, meaning they are considered poisonous to the nervous system. Arsenic and cadmium are known human carcinogens, meaning they are known to cause cancer in humans, according to the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer. Lead is a probable human carcinogen.
The FDA has acknowledged that “there is no known safe level of exposure to lead.”
Even so, according to reporting in The Guardian, the highest levels of heavy metals found in tested toothpastes and tooth powders do not violate U.S. federal standards, although they may exceed the limits set by some states.
Critics have charged that federal thresholds are too lax to adequately protect consumers from potential harm.
Tamara Rubin created the organization Lead Safe Mama to advocate for the prevention of childhood lead poisoning and consumer goods safety. Two of her four sons experienced acute lead poisoning in 2005.
In recent years, the organization says it has sent a variety of products — such as dishes, toys, household items, furniture and jewelry — to independent, third-party laboratories and asked them to test for the presence of lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic.
Toothpaste isn’t the only product in your home that can potentially harbor hazardous levels of lead. Learn more in “Most Cinnamon Is Tainted With Toxic Lead, but These 6 Brands Are Safe.”
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